


A Legacy of Magic

by MoonlitRamblings



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Hogwarts AU, Slow Burn, Warning: Cora does Cora things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-14
Updated: 2018-10-14
Packaged: 2019-07-02 23:06:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 104,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15806379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonlitRamblings/pseuds/MoonlitRamblings
Summary: All Regina wants is to escape the influence of her mother. All Emma wants is a place she can belong. Both hope that Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry is the answer to give them everything they are hoping to find. With the legacy of her deceased parents hanging over Emma's every move and a mother like Regina's, even Hogwarts might not be the refuge they are so desperately longing for. Can each forge her own path or will fate decide history bears repeating?





	1. But Where to Put You?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Black_Byakko](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Black_Byakko/gifts).
  * Inspired by [A Legacy of Magic](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15853365) by [Black_Byakko](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Black_Byakko/pseuds/Black_Byakko). 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Regina - Year 1  
> Emma - Year 0

Everyone was nervous for the Sorting, even after finding out all it required was putting on an old hat. Some kids were biting their nails, others were looking through the crowds of seated students for siblings or others they might know and the muggleborns in particular were trying to distract themselves by gazing around the Great Hall in wonder.

Regina was doing none of those things; she stared directly at the Hat on its stool yet didn’t hear a word it sang. She hadn’t been surprised about how they were sorted, as if her mother would keep the sorting ceremony a secret—anything for an advantage. Most pureblood families told their children, even though some families saw it as bad luck to tell new students how they were sorted.

She didn’t look nervous either. Regina was though—nervous, that is. Her stiff posture and blank mask of a face were habit, not indicative of any sort of calm. Regina’s arms were a little too low to be crossed over her chest and were more wrapped around her middle, as if to hold herself together. Her hands, clasped tightly around her elbows, were shaking from the pressure she was exerting.

Regina had distracted herself on the train. While Mother had merely nodded at the letter when it had arrived, but Papi had given her a new book as a present, away from her mother’s judgmental gaze. He’d given her a smile and hug as he presented her with the book on Aethonans. Regina had decided to wait to read the book until she was on the Hogwarts Express and had only allowed herself to look at the beautiful illustrations of the winged horses at home.

The boat ride over the Hogwarts lake had been so wonderful that she'd been able to forget, just for a bit, what was coming. her first real steps as a witch. Her first real steps towards freedom.

Now, Regina’s mind raced as she stood waiting. The song had finished without her noticing and she tried to determine how many kids would be called up before her. Her last initial was near the end of the alphabet, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything if there were many kids with last names starting with later letters. She scolded herself for presuming any more than she should.

Here, in this castle, away from her mother’s close eye would be where her life would really begin. She had promised herself that over and over again all summer—whispering it to herself as she endured various punishments from her mother. Regina had vowed she would make the most of spending the majority of the year away from home. She would find a way to be herself—to be anyone, but her mother.

“Marion May.” The name meant that Regina’s own turn was sure to come up soon, perhaps even next. She watched as the pretty girl with skin a couple of shades darker than her own went up. Did she know that last name? Mother’s lessons on the pureblood families flickered through her mind. “GRYFFINDOR!” the Hat called out.

“Abigail Midas.” Regina’s focus narrowed even as her nerves grew tighter. The Midas’ were a powerful, old family, one her mother wished to cultivate a closer relationship with—particularly with the older Midas’ connection to the sorcerer’s stone.

The blonde girl walked up, visibly calmer than most of the other children—the Hat was on the girl’s head for only a few seconds before, “SLYTHERIN!”

“Kathryn Midas.” Mother had told her to befriend both sisters and she’d met them once at a boring Holiday party. They’d stood next to their father as he talked to Mother, just as she had, but they’d all shared a mutual look of boredom before being pulled in different directions by their parents. The Hat took a bit longer with Kathryn. “RAVENCLAW!”

Finally, Professor McGonagall called, “Regina Navar.”

Regina took a deep breath and strode forward, wondering if the slight uptick whispers were just in her imagination. The Navar family had been powerful for centuries, even if mainly in the South and the Americas. She wondered if that was the cause of the whispers or if they knew, despite her mother’s best efforts, that the rest of her father’s family barely associated with them after her father married her mother.

No, the murmur was likely due to her mother’s reputation. Mother had infiltrated the Ministry thoroughly and relentlessly to gain the notoriety she currently enjoyed. _No, no – don’t focus on Mother,_ Regina thought desperately, as she approached the stool. The last thing she wanted to be thinking of before she put on the Sorting Hat was Mother.

Carefully, Regina picked up the Hat, sat down, and placed it on her head. As it was for most of them, the black hat was much too big and slid down to cover her eyes, blinding her to the rest of the room.

“Well, well, what an interesting case,” a quiet voice that seemed to come from inside her mind said. “Hm.”

 _No one had mentioned the Hat talking to you,_ Regina thought with rising panic. Was it only talking to her? She hadn’t heard it say anything to the others so she didn’t think anyone else could hear it now, right?

It was looking at her mind—Regina could feel it and squeezed her eyes shut in an automatic effort to block it out, as she did whenever Mother wanted to remind her that nothing was hers, not even her own mind. Mother had never done more than brush against her mind though, to remind Regina of what she could do. Regina felt no pressure from the Hat and yet she could somehow feel it looking at her and knowing her in a way no one had before, not even Papi.

“I see you are fierce and with plenty of nerve, oh yes.” Regina could feel memories rising to the surface with each word: her breaking in a wild foal and standing up to her mother those few times she had been pushed too far. “You want to help others, so noble as well.”

“Sharp minded” Quiet days reading by herself in her hideout in the forest that Mother could never find appeared before her mind’s eye, excitement as she taught her horse new jumps all on her own. “You have a very eager mind.”

“Loyal and hardworking to a high degree” Her standing in front of her horse, trying to stop her mother from having him put down when he’d broken her foot and not moving until Cora had knocked her out. “You will make a most worthy friend.”

“Cunning too” her careful way of watching Mother and all the clues to her mood, figuring out how best to avoid her wrath. Her great aspiration – to live a life where her mother could not control her. “It is a high ambition to break free from one such as her.”

The small voice sounded almost amused, “Difficult.”

 _Please pick Ravenclaw,_ she thought, her eyes shut tight.

“Ravenclaw, ay. There is great potential here, wherever you go, although very different paths. Are you so sure you wouldn’t rather be elsewhere?”

 _Not Slytherin, my mother wants me there, has friends there, can control me._ Regina thought quickly, hoping she could persuade the Hat because the main reason she feared Slytherin was that it might make her turn into her mother. _She hates Gryffindor, despises Hufflepuff even more. Would disown me, or worse, if I was put there. She wants me to be in Slytherin, but she would put up with Ravenclaw. I want a place to be myself, be safe. In Ravenclaw, I can teach myself, learn how to escape her grasp, without becoming like her. Please!_

“A most dangerous plan,” the little voice said, “However, very well thought out, especially for one so young, and so it best be RAVENCLAW!”

-x-x-x-

The feast passed in a blur as Regina hesitantly filled her plate. When no one took food away from her or told her that proper young witches do not nearly knock their glasses over or admonished her from taking seconds, Regina found she was ravenous.

She made small talk with her fellow first years, and almost forgot that her mother had ordered her to talk to Kathryn, so easy was she to talk to without her mother hovering in the edge of her vision.

The trip to Ravenclaw tower was confusing, but she was starting to be too tired from her nerves earlier to even spare the mental energy to worry about getting lost. She was equally glad when the prefect showing them around answered the question to open the door.

The common room was white marble, brass fixtures, and blue couches. Despite the darkness outside, it seemed light and tall, different than the darker grey of most of the castle’s walls. Regina found she preferred it.

The prefect led them to the spiral staircase in the center of the common room. “You can look around more in the morning. Follow me to your rooms.”

She led them all the way down to the bottom floor, explaining that as first years they got the rooms furthest from the common room with the most stairs to climb. She showed them how a tap of the wand brought down the walls around the staircase, revealing the first-year girls dorms.

The room was a large hexagon with space for all six of the new Ravenclaw first year girls and a small sitting room in the middle. Each girl had walls that could be taken up or down with the flick of the wand. The prefect explained this made it easier for people who liked to study alone. Once she finished pointing out which bed belonged to which girl and asking if they had any questions, she bid them a good night.

Regina was very grateful for the privacy and she said an early good night to the others, too exhausted to continue talking to them and brought up her wall to the sitting room soon after arriving. Silence followed, the walls blocking out any chatter and she looked around her new room with interest. White marble walls, a tall window which showed they were in a tower in the Northwest. Her bed had a matching brass head- and footboard. Regina opened her trunk and made sure nothing had been damaged. She placed her new book on the desk and changed into her pajamas.

As she fell back onto the bed and looked up to the ceiling, which was enchanted to show the view of the stars from the top of their tower, she wondered why, even though she was exhausted from her long day, she still felt tense.

No sooner had she thought that when she heard a pecking sound at the window: a black owl holding a blue envelope. Regina fumbled with the latch and the owl flew in, wings brushing her cheek and causing her to flinch.

It dropped the envelope on her pillow and then settled itself on the top of corner post of the footboard. Regina picked up the letter hesitantly, glad it at least wasn’t a red howler. She was still grateful for the privacy of the wall as she opened the letter, which flew out of her hands, and her mother’s voice rang out.

“Not even your first day and already you have managed to upset my plans,” Cora said, her voice full of tightly controlled anger and a hint of disgust. “I don’t know why I am surprised. I do not know if it is defiance or incompetence, but I am disappointed in you, Regina. Perhaps I should have known you weren’t driven enough to be in Slytherin. Very well, if you must be in Ravenclaw, you will be at the top of your class. Nothing less will do. You won’t let me down, will you, dear?”

Mother didn’t have to add “or else”, Regina heard it all the same. Still, as the letter settled back into her hands, she felt a band around her chest, not unlike the ones Mother liked to use, loosen. And that made it all worth it.


	2. The Nightmare of Exams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Regina - Year 1  
> Emma - Year 0

Regina woke up, her heart pounding and feeling like the blankets were too constricting around her arms. She threw them off and sat up in bed, panting.

 _Dammit!_ She buried her face in her hands, another nightmare about the upcoming exams.

This time her mother had snapped her wand in half, saying if she was going to be such a worthless witch, she might as well be a muggle. Without realizing it, Regina had grabbed her wand from the nightstand and was holding it in her hands, running her fingers over the unbroken applewood.

“Lumos,” Regina whispered. Her motions were jerkier than usual, but still sufficient and the end of her wand obligingly flickered with light which grew steadier as her nerves did.

She threw off the rest of her covers and went over to her desk, sitting down with a shiver at the cool wood. Regina needed to figure out a way around these nightmares. She’d started to get them after Mother’s first letter about finals, but even without more warnings that she needed to be top of her class, the nightmares had been coming more frequently. Now she had them every night.

Currently, Regina was dealing with them by studying until she passed out over her books, but then she just had confusing dreams about the coursework itself, not nightmarish exactly, but certainly not restful. Even after only a week of constant nightmares, she was noticing how hard it was to concentrate and how little of the review material she was getting through. She felt like she was re-reading the same few pages and without absorbing any of the information.

So, she had to stop these nightmares. But how?

Instinctively, she reached for her potions textbook—her best subject was potions after all. A sleeping potion might work. The question would be which one.

On instinct, she closed her standard textbook and picked up the library book she’d taken out at Professor Gold’s suggestion when he noticed how well she did in his class. Most were too powerful to use, more likely to knock her out for the entire exam week than to provide the normal amount of rest she should be getting. Some of them had nasty side effects, such as nightmares, itchiness, sluggish magic, dulled responses – that was unacceptable.

Regina flipped through more pages. Finally, she found one that seemed promising. A dreamless sleep potion, very customizable. That was one her favorite aspects of potions. Every other subject was very precise, say these words, move your arms like this, think about that. Potions _could_ be like that, but they also had room for experimentation, without inventing a completely new piece of magic. You could tailor the effects more precisely, as long as you knew what you were doing.

Regina frowned at the notes for this potion, it was a year 3 potion according to the book. She could do the basic sleeping draught, but that was more likely to induce strange dreams in the taker and had a less predictable time limit, erring on the shorter side. She didn’t want to have to wake up each hour to take it again. Besides, the more you took a potion, the more likely you were to get side effects or build up a tolerance to it.

She rubbed her forehead in frustration, it was too late to be trying to figure some of this out. The obvious solution was to ask Madame Pomfrey to give her a sleep potion. However, the matron would never give her something like that multiple nights in a row without wanting to discuss why she was having such bad nightmares that required a Dreamless Sleep potion. Maybe for one night, if she said exam stress was getting to her…

No, Regina shook her head decisively. She could manage this herself. She was a witch. She could do this.

-x-x-x-

Regina’s first attempt made her throw up. Her second knocked her out for five minutes and after being left alone for twenty minutes began to congeal into something lime green instead of purple. The fumes alone from Regina’s third try knocked her out for two hours, nearly leading her roommates to call a prefect.

After that attempt, she was running very low on some of the ingredients so she knew she needed to make a new plan. First, Regina acquired a second book from the library, this one a basic guide on herbology and its use in tandem with potion making.

Secondly, she went to Professor Gold and asked to borrow some time in one of the private dungeons for practice.

“I’m just having trouble studying. Re-reading the recipes isn’t very helpful. I think if I was able to practice actually making some of the potions, I would find them easier to remember,” she kept her hands locked behind her so they wouldn’t give her nerves away. Regina tried to tell herself she wasn’t actually lying. She just wasn’t being specific about which potions she would practicing making. And if she finished in time, maybe she would practice one of the potions for the exam.

“Miss Navar, you are already at the top of your class,” Gold said, his raised eyebrows showing his surprise that his star first year pupil would need such extensive study time. “Do you really think you need this?”

Regina flushed at his praise, but nodded resolutely, “Its different, making a potion from memory instead of reading out the instructions.”

“Hm,” Gold regarded her sternly for longer than she would have liked before he leaned back in his chair. “While I do not believe you need to practice, I suppose first year exams can be...intimidating. So many expectations.” His gaze sharpened perceptively at that point and she could almost hear her mother’s words.

Regina swallowed heavily, she knew Gold was an old friend of Mother’s. However, he relaxed and continued, “Normally, only older students and those being tutored may use the spare potions rooms, but I can make an exception. The room all the way at the end of the hall, its small but serviceable. You must bring your own ingredients. Most of the time slots have been taken, but there’s one tonight at five and another spot open at six tomorrow morning that I don’t think anyone will be taking.”

Regina winced—of course, early in the morning and when dinner was served. Still, “I’ll take them, thank you very much Professor Gold. I promise I will be careful.”

“See that you are. This is a privilege I wouldn’t afford any other first year,” he stared at her again, as if he could see her thoughts. “Use it wisely.”

-x-x-x-

Regina eyed the glass milk bottle of purple liquid. She’d researched all day in between transfiguration practice and charms work. The result was a batch of the Dreamless Sleep potion, which she’d started the night before and finished in the morning. She hoped the measures she’d taken meant her estimate for how much of the potion she needed to take to get eight hours of dreamless sleep would work. Last night had not been pleasant.

Leaving the flobberworm mucus on her windowsill overnight, under the moonlight, should have strengthened it, whereas only using six springs of lavender instead of eight should have tempered the tendency to cause dreams. And crushing the sopophorous bean instead of cutting it seemed much easier, so her timing of adding it was much more precise than her previous attempts.

Regina was struggling to keep her eyes open, even though it was only nine o’clock. After her next yawn, she closed her book loudly enough that Kathryn, the other Ravenclaw first year who’d been studying history of magic in their sitting room with her, jumped at the noise and glared at her.

“Sorry, I’m going to bed,” Regina apologized as she grabbed her parchment and moved her stuff to her trunk. “We can quiz each other in the morning?”

“We?” Kathryn said with a mischievous grin.

Regina scowled. How could anyone look so awake after reading that dry textbook? “Fine, so that you can quiz me in the morning.”

Kathryn smiled, “Don’t be mad, Navar, you’re leading just about every other class.”

Regina rolled her eyes, but her aloof attitude was ruined by another yawn. “Good night.”

“Night.”

Regina brought up her wall and changed in to her pajamas in a tired haze. Finally though she was in bed, ready to turn off her light, and all that was left was to take the potion. She carefully poured 45 ML of the potion into a small glass cup before stopping the bottle with a spruce cork. The potion should be fast acting and she didn’t want to have to remember to close the bottle after she’d taken it.

Regina carefully poured the potion into the passion fruit tea she’d had a house elf bring her a while ago. She warmed it up with one of the charms she hoped was on the Charms exam as she was particularly good at it. Combining the potion with the tea was supposed to stabilize it; she hoped the book was right.

Regina had never had passion fruit tea before, so she expected it was supposed to taste as flowery as it did. However, she was fairly certain it shouldn’t have had such a sticky aftertaste. As soon as she finished the cup, her eyelids began to droop. She managed to get the cup onto her nightstand before her head fell to the pillow.

Her last thought before she fell asleep was that she hoped she hadn’t made it too strong.

-x-x-x-

“There you are,” Kathryn commented as Regina slipped onto the bench next to her in the dining hall on the late side for breakfast. The blonde squinted at Regina before smiling, “Glad you slept well, now you might be able to stay awake during our studying.”

To her surprise, Regina merely gave her a pleased smile, “Yes, I think I will. Does that mean you’ll be able to stay awake during our herbology review?”

Kathryn laughed, “I’m not the problem for that, Tina is. And it’s not really falling asleep, it’s just her getting distracted.”

“True.”

-x-x-x-

It was amazing what a couple of good night rests did for Regina’s ability to focus. Also, without her mother haunting her dreams, she was able to regain her concentration and her confidence.

She knew Kathryn at least had noticed. Regina had known she’d only had a couple more days of nightmares before Kathryn had asked her about her obvious inability to sleep and tried to get Regina to talk to Madame Pomfrey.

Regina frowned in concentration while she and the other Ravenclaw first years practiced _Wingardium_ _Leviosa_ by levitating a pillow around in circle, tossing it to each other.

One of the other girls had the brilliant idea to quiz each other about creature classifications for Defense Against the Dark Arts while they played this game and it was proving rather fun. Whoever had the pillow would answer a question from whoever sent it to them and then would pose a question to whoever they sent it to. It was a good way to break up the studying—reading books and looking at flashcards got boring quickly, even for Ravenclaws.

Soon though the game devolved when two girls started an argument and began having a back and forth competitive quiz that ended with half the pillows in the room flying. The resulting massive pillow fight was unsurprising and very fun, even if their prefect had come down to see what all the noise was about and got a pillow to the face for her trouble.

They’d all retreated to their beds, closing them off from the sitting room, for all Regina was convinced only one of them had actually gone to sleep, especially since their first two exams were tomorrow.

Regina was reading through some of the material the fight had been over, trying to sort out who had been right, when there was a knock on her dorm door, “Pst, Regina?”

Frowning, Regina went over to the door and pulled it open to see Kathryn standing outside her door. The other girl whispering made Regina copy her, “What is it, Kathryn?”

Kathryn motioned inside and Regina stepped aside to let her in. Kathryn looked briefly around the room before her eyes settled on Regina’s dreamless sleep potion. “This! Is it a sleep potion?”

“Dreamless sleep,” Regina corrected automatically, before moving to stand rather protectively between the bottle and her fellow Ravenclaw. “What about it?”

“Did you get this from Madame Pomfrey or did you make it yourself?” Kathryn pressed, although she stayed where she was and didn’t try to grab for the bottle.

“I brewed it. I didn’t need to bother her, I was just having some bad dreams about exams,” Regina said, wrapping her arms around her stomach. “So what? Why do you want to know?”

“Can I have some?” Kathryn asked.

“What?” Whatever Regina had been expecting, that wasn’t it. “Why?”

“The exam is tomorrow and I always have trouble sleeping the night before anything big happens. Holidays, birthdays, medical procedures,” Kathryn elaborated. “Do you think I could have a dose of your potion? Just for tonight?”

“Are you sure you don’t want to ask Madame Pomfrey?” Regina chewed her lip nervously. It was one thing to test potions on herself, another to do it to her friend. “I mean, I did brew this myself.”

Kathryn’s brow furrowed, “You seem fine so far.”

“Well, maybe the side effects haven’t shown up yet,” Regina replied defensively.

“Look, if you don’t want to give me any, that’s fine—you don’t have to. But you’re a really good potioneer and I just wanted some for tonight. But I can just stay up, really. Sorry to bother you.” She turned to leave.

“No, wait.” Kathryn was the closest thing Regina had to a real friend here. There was a group of them that would talk in class and study together, but Regina wasn’t sure if the others merely didn’t mind that she was there and valued her potions knowledge. Kathryn and her would hang out outside of things like that. She couldn’t lose her first friend over something like this. She didn’t want her to think she was selfish. “It’s fine, I just don’t want you to get sick. Go get your measuring cups, I’ll pour you a dose.”

“Really? Thanks!” Kathryn ran off to her own room to get them.

Regina stared at her purple, faintly glowing potion and hoped she’d made the right decision.

When Kathryn came down to breakfast the next morning, looking refreshed and ready to tackle the exams, Regina knew she had.


	3. School Supplies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Emma - Summer before Year 1  
> Regina - Summer before Year 2

Emma hadn’t known what to think when the intimidating older woman showed up at the group home she was currently at and tried to tell her she was a witch. But then she’d turned Emma’s bed into a couch and turned herself into a cat. Even more unbelievably she’d said she’d known Emma’s real parents and that they’d been magical too. Now Emma was just pretty sure she was dreaming. At least it was an interesting dream.

“So how do we get to the magic stores?” Emma asked as the pair walked down the street the professor had had the cab driver drop them off on. Apparently, since she was a witch and going to this magical school, she also needed special magical school supplies—everything on the list the professor had given to her along with her acceptance letter.

“Here,” McGonagall said and gestured at what Emma was pretty sure was a bank office.

“Here?” Emma wasn’t sure she’d ever seen a less magical looking place than this old-fashioned looking bank.

“Yes, come along. This way.” Professor McGonagall lead them through the doors, which let out a very typical bell sound—not that Emma had been in many banks. Or any really, but it certainly sounded like any other shop.

If she was expecting the inside to look any different than what the outside suggested, she was disappointed. A teller at one the counters looked up at their entrance and smiled at them, “Good afternoon, professor. Will you be needing any account opening services today? The line’s short right now.”

Professor McGonagall gave the young woman a polite nod. “Not right now, Ms Wheeler. Strictly Gringotts business this afternoon.”

If the teller thought anything about the fact that McGonagall was escorting a young student, but one who evidently had a Gringotts vault, she kept it to herself. “Alright, have a good day.” She even nodded at Emma and gave her a smile that the girl could barely return. Emma was starting to feel uncomfortable in her too tight jeans and overly large jumper – both hand-me-downs from other foster girls. She felt like she stuck out, as though the fact that she was a reject was tattooed on her forehead.

Emma glanced up at McGonagall who obviously shared none of her discomfort, her confidence evident as she said goodbye to the teller and led them down a hallway.

Emma was so lost in her thoughts that she almost didn’t notice the décor changing. The sound of their footsteps brought Emma back to the present. Had they always been walking on marble? She could have sworn it was carpet a moment ago. Then she squinted around at the lights, which had changed to old fashioned wall lamps instead of fluorescent ceiling lights.

Even the paintings on the wall seemed to be getting older, with more ornate frames. She nearly tripped when she noticed one painting of a meadow—wind appeared to be rustling the grass and the leaves of the trees.

Finally, she began to hear quiet voices. They came upon a short line of people who Emma was relieved to see looked normal enough—she kept expecting something more, well, magical around every corner. The counter had five windows, two of which were open, all of which said “Muggle Currency Exchange Services”.

As they passed the line, Emma noticed the tellers.

“What are they?” Emma asked in a hushed voice.

“Goblins,” McGonagall replied swiftly. “They are very accomplished with things of value. They control the Wizarding banks, Gringotts is the largest. The bank we entered through is one of their muggle branches, Gold Standard Bank & Trust.”

Before Emma could ask any further questions, they emerged in a very large, high-ceiling hall. It looked like something out of a period drama except all of the dozens of counters were manned by goblins and everyone was in robes and pointy hats. Even though it looked rather silly to Emma, she still felt like someone had told everyone else about a dress code she’d never been informed of.

Emma shrank back, closer to McGonagall, who didn’t notice her charges’ sudden anxiety or was pretending not to. She strode up to the largest desk, “Inheritance, please.”

The goblin nodded and climbed down from the lectern. Emma realized he was even shorter than she was. He gestured them through a doorway to the side of his previous spot, “Right this way, ma’am.”

They entered a filing room of some kind, one with far more cabinets than Emma thought could even fit in the space. In fact, when she tried to focus on how big exactly the room was, her head hurt. She decided to stop.

“Heir name?” the goblin asked, opening a cabinet near the entrance.

“Miss Emma Swan, birth name Emma Avaline White, born October 23, inherited 11 years ago on November 1,” McGonagall answered briskly.

November first, was that the day her parents died? Nine days after she was born? Emma tried to memorize these real concrete facts about her parents. “My birthday is the twenty-third? I always thought it was the twenty-fifth. And my name really was Emma?”

McGonagall tried not to let her pity show on her face that the girl didn’t even know her own birthday. “Yes, wizarding wills are very accurate as is Hogwarts when it comes to the names of its students.”

The goblin had immediately closed one drawer, opened another, and was now going through the index cards in the filing cabinet.

He finally drew one out, holding it delicately, before hopping off the stool and heading down the rows of little cubbies. Emma thought they looked like something an old-fashioned hotel might have to hold keys although these contained small boxes.

“What…what if he can’t find it?” Emma couldn’t keep the question in any longer. McGonagall had assured her that her parents had left her things when they died, but it was still too hard to believe she actually now knew who they were. It seemed so much more likely this was all just a mistake.

“He will,” McGonagall replied evenly, eyes tracking the goblin before her gaze switched to Emma and softened. “I know you think that perhaps you aren’t Emma White, but you must understand that regardless of your parentage, you are most definitely a witch.” She continued to speak before Emma could protest that, “And as such, you would be taken care of by the Hogwarts scholarship fund.”

“Oh.”

They sat in silence for a while before Emma couldn’t keep the question to herself any longer, “I know you said my parents died, but how? What happened?”

McGonagall’s mouth tightened, but then she released a sigh as she had been expecting the question. “Your father David had an identical twin brother, James. James was raised by their father and David by their mother and neither knew of the others’ existence.

James was involved with a very dangerous group led by his father. David, your mother, and their friends began to grow concerned about this group after someone mistook David for his brother. James died suddenly and it was decided that David would go undercover as his brother to discover their plans.”

“Your parents brought the group down and the majority of the members to justice. However, a few months later, a number of them broke out of prison and sought to get revenge on your parents.”

“They held a large demonstration that had the potential to hurt a lot of people and so your parents went to stop it. It was only a couple days after you were born and they were worried about both magical and muggle means, so they cast a very powerful defensive spell which destroyed all magical trace of you and prevented all magical means from finding you. Then they sent you into hiding.”

“When they went to face the group, something went wrong. Your parents tried to save the people who were there, but a number of people still died. Your parents included.”

Emma couldn’t think of how to respond as she tried to absorb all that information. She was still trying to come up with a response when the goblin came back into sight, definitely from the opposite side of the room he had left. He was carrying a small black box.

When he got to them, he placed it on the table and faced Emma. “Here is the White key box. It will give access to the vault with her allowance. Wand arm?”

“What?” Emma said, feeling tired of only understanding every other word.

“Are you right handed or left handed, Miss Swan?” McGonagall clarified.

“Left,” Emma answered.

“Then place your left thumb to the seal. It should open.”

Emma did as she was told and placed her left thumb over the seal on the top of the leather box. After a few seconds of nothing happening, her mind already went into a panic. _It’s not working, I knew I wasn’t magical. I don’t have any parents let alone any that would have left me money. This is all a big mistake and I’m going to be in so much—_ her thoughts abruptly stopped when there was a distinct clicking noise and the box lid swung up and opened before her disbelieving eyes.

The goblin reached in and pulled out a small gold key. “Now we can get down to business. Right this way.”

 “You can keep the box,” McGonagall told her. “It’s a good place to keep the key once we’ve taken out some money.”

“Okay.” Emma grabbed it as they left this room. “Earlier, what did he mean by “my allowance”?”

“As their sole child, you inherited all of your parent’s money and worldly assets. However, you are also a minor. In this case, your parents’ estate had a built-in trust set up for any heirs which affords you the use of your money early for certain necessities, primarily for your schooling. And some pocket money.”

Emma had always told herself that her parents had to have been deadbeats, since anyone else would have had family that would have taken her in or they’d never wanted to her in the first place. The professor seemed to her be telling her that her parents were neither, in fact—they were wealthy and well-respected. How had she slipped through the cracks and ended up where she was? If she was supposedly going to get some money from them from a real will, why had she been thrown away? “Shouldn’t they have left _me_ to someone?”

McGonagall felt that question like a punch. She’d liked both David and Snow, but planners they were not. While she knew there were extenuating circumstances, she had often thought and wondered about Emma these past ten years. How must Emma feel now? She couldn’t imagine it. “Yes they should have,” she acknowledged. Emma flinched a little a t that, but then looked back up and McGonagall could see the surprise that McGonagall was admitting to that they had made a mistake.

McGonagall tried to find the words to explain how complicated it was, “However, they were young and I doubt they ever truly believed anything would happen to them.” She could still remember their proud and idealistic faces, their self-assuredness when they brought the Red Fist to trial. And, since they’d been visiting the castle, she could also remember the shock on their faces when the members escaped.

“Any will of an adult witch or wizard will magically update for worldly possessions when a child is born, but who should care for the child—that is a personal decision if both spouses die. You were only born a few days before they… And then, since you’d been hidden by magic so thoroughly, no one except Hogwarts could find you. And we tried, I promise you that.”

Emma was too shocked by the sincerity in McGonagall’s tone to do anything but look away. The idea that her whole life people might have been searching for her, trying to bring her to a place she might belong was too overwhelming to even think about. She couldn’t handle all of this, it was too much. She took a few deep breaths and tried to focus on what she needed to right now—magic, school—tangible things that were happening at the moment.

Emma’s gaze became fixed on her feet as they went down the marble stairs, her hand on the polished railed, the sound of McGonagall’s footsteps as she blocked out all of her whirling thoughts. They followed the goblin down and down a series of increasingly sloped passageways until they finally stopped. The sudden disappearance of well-polished marble threw Emma off, as did the sudden feeling of being in some sort of mining tunnel.

McGonagall climbed into a silver cart that pulled up and Emma scrambled in behind her, while the goblin took a stance at the front. As soon as the door shut behind her, they took off, moving at an alarming speed.

Emma tried to follow where they were going at first, but quickly changed her mind when she started to feel sick and just stared resolutely ahead.

She stumbled when they finally reached a stop and got out in front of a roughly hewn door that look identical to every other one they’d passed.

“Here we are. Vault 928.” The goblin still had her key and after carefully drawing his finger over the door in a complex pattern, a keyhole appeared at his eye level. He inserted the key and it turned with a click. Then he stood aside.

Emma and McGonagall walked up to the door and Emma hesitantly opened it.

She gazed at the rough wooden table in the center of a small room. Then her eyes widened as she took in the little pile of actual gold and silver coins that sat on it. “All of this is mine?”

“Yes,” McGonagall said. “This is the allowance. We will likely need most of it today for getting you set up with all of your school supplies. In later years there will be more leftover for other things.”

“So this isn’t even all of it?” Emma said shocked.

“No, we can go over your entire account at a later date if you’d like.”

“Okay,” Emma replied, dazed.

“Scoop it all into the key box. It should be able to hold that much and the key. The will be the easiest way to carry it around.”

“Sure, of course,” Emma said. She walked forward, placed the box down, and unlocked it again. Carefully, she began to place the coins inside, eyes widening as they continued to fill up the box well beyond how much it appeared to be able to contain.

Soon enough all the coins were safely stowed in the key box, which only felt a little heavier than it had previously. The goblin relocked the vault and returned her key to her.

-x-x-x-

“What now?” Emma asked as she squinted in the bright light of Diagon Alley, trying to adjust back to the sound of a busy London instead of the hushed halls of the bank. It was simultaneously a familiar sight and like nothing she had ever seen before. The bustling street, hurrying people, and many shops all packed together looked similar enough to shopping areas in older parts of London that she’d snuck off to explore before.

However, everything looked even older than that, like some sort of historical reenactment or a movie set--more preserved--brickwork, wooden, signs, and absolutely no screens, lighted up signs, or lights except for some old-fashioned street lamps, which she could see weren’t even electric, but oil.

And the people. Everyone was dressed up like McGonagall and the others inside the bank in long robes, pointy hats, and a variety of other odd clothing combinations she’d never seen. A closer look at the shop signs as she followed McGonagall on autopilot almost caused her to trip. Only a few were ordinary like the ice cream parlour or the bank, the others were for a variety of fantastic things.

_Slug & Jiggers Apothecary, Amanuensis Quills, Fine Enchanting Caldrons, j. Pippins Potions, Cranville Quincey’s Magical Junkshop, Second-Hand Robes._

McGonagall purposely slowed down for e girl, knowing how overwhelming Diagon Alley could be for those who had never been before. “First, we need to procure a wand for you.”

Emma tried to pull herself together and keep up better with the older witch, luckily people seemed to instinctively get out of McGonagall’s way so it wasn’t too hard--she just needed to pay attention instead of gazing around in wonder. Emma tried to focus on what McGonagall was saying. A wand? “How do I get one?” Emma wondered if she had to go on some sort of quest or—.

McGonagall’s no-nonsense voice cut through her thoughts. “Ollivander’s. His shop is right over here.”

Or they could just pick one up at one of the many stores. Of course.

Emma did rethink how mundane that seemed when she saw the store. She blinked at the sign. “Fine wand makers since 382 B.C.”. That had to be wrong, right? And yet, there was something about this shop, even compared to the shops, this one seemed separate somehow, like it commanded more respect--like the bank. It stood apart even though it was packed in just as tightly as the others.

When they opened the door, a hush seemed to come over the witches, similar that in a bank or a library. She looked around in awe at the crowded, dim shop. All throughout the shop was lined with shelves and shelves of small boxes, not unlike shoe boxes, but wooden and smaller. The room was filled, floor to ceiling, in rows that went back further than she could see.

Suddenly, an old man appeared around one corner. “Ah,” he said in a dry, whispery voice. “Professor, who do you have for me today?”

“Ollivander,” McGonagall nodded at him. “This is Emma Swan, a new student.”

“Of course, of course,” he said. He peered at her with light eyes that hardly seemed to blinked and she had never felt more scrutinized. “Swan, you said? Are you quite sure? She has her mother’s chin if I recall correctly.”

Emma’s eyes widened and her hand flew to her chin. Her mother’s chin? Did she? It was suddenly hard to breathe. It was one thing for McGonagall to tell her these things, and an entirely different thing to have a stranger identify her mother with a glance.

“Yes, she uses a new surname due to their untimely passing.”

“Yes, yes. Tragedy, of course. The White heir has returned. Fascinating.”

McGonagall leveled a stare at him that even this strange man was not impervious to and so he turned back to the shelves and pulled down a box.

“Wand arm?”

Emma could barely remember what that meant over her whirling thoughts, but she did recognize the question. She extended her left hand and he placed the thin stick of wood into it. She stared blankly before lifting her eyes to him.

“Give it a wave. Fir and dragon heartstring, like your esteemed professor, longer though and whippy. Good for transfiguration work.” he said, motioning to her with his hands.

Hesitantly, she brought the wand up and back down. He immediately hurried over, even before she finished the motion, taking it from her. “No, no. Definitely not.”

Emma flushed, how had she managed to mess even that up?

He disappeared down an aisle, mumbling and Emma turned to look at McGonagall helplessly.

McGonagall gave her a kind smile, “Matching a witch to a wand is challenging and time-consuming, but worth the time it takes. A mismatched wand won’t work correctly—or at least it won’t work well. Nearly everyone tries out a few before finding the right one.”

“Okay,” Emma replied, looking down. What if none of them worked?

Suddenly, the man was back, arms full of boxes which he set down on his counter.

“Try this one,” he said, pressing the wand from the top-most box into her hand. “Cypress and unicorn hair, similar to your father’s but nine inches instead of ten and a bit more flexible. Throughout history it has been said those with cypress wands die heroically. Your father is proof that there is some truth to that.”

Emma accepted the wand automatically, her mind trying to cope with more information about her parents. How easily this man knowledgably said “your father”. Her dad had come here and gotten a wand, just as she doing now. And it was like the one she herself was holding right now. She waved it and a few feeble yellow sparks emitted from it, but not enough to satisfy Ollivander.

The next wand, ash and dragon heartstring, same as her mother’s evidently, was taken from her after a very faint red glow appeared.

Ollivander was shaking his head, “No, not right.”

“Here; English oak, thirteen inches with the feather of a phoenix.”

This one she only needed to raise above her head for him to snatch back.

“Absolutely not. Unicorn hair was by far the best for you,” he said muttering to himself as he rummaged through some more of the boxes he had brought up.

“Ah! I know. I’ve been waiting for this wand to choose someone. Unicorn hair and cedar. Ten inches and pliable.”

Emma picked it up out of the box he held out to her and immediately it began to glow a soft gold color. She brought it up and around with a flourish. It warmed in her hand as she did so and let out golden sparks. Emma looked at the sparks and then at the wand in her hand with awe before a wide grin grew on her face.

She turned to look at McGonagall who was smiling at her. “Congratulations, Miss Swan.”

-x-x-x-

“What’s next?” Emma asked, clutching the box that held her wand tightly to her chest.

“Robes and a trunk,” McGonagall replied briskly, heading for _Madame Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions_.

Emma nearly tripped as she tried to match the older woman’s pace. “We can get both of those at the same place?”

“No, but after I get you settled in for a fitting, I’ll go pick up a trunk. Otherwise, we won’t have anywhere to put all of your purchases.” McGonagall pushed open the shop door; its bell rang obligingly as they entered.

Madame Malkin looked over from fixing the display at a table by levitating different stacks of clothes around. She smiled at them as the clothes settled themselves with a flick of her wand, “Hello, Minerva. Another new student for me?”

“Correct, Patricia. This is Emma Swan.”

Emma wasn’t sure if she was relieved or disappointed, when all Madame Malkin did was smile and say, “Nice to meet you, dear. Why don’t you come over here and we’ll have you settled in a jiffy? I assume no Quidditch robes if you’re only a first year, just the standard school robes?” Had Emma really begun to expect everyone she met to start spouting random facts about her parents whenever she met them?

Instead, nerves about having an actual fitting instead of taking things from off the rack began to make themselves known. The short witch brushed aside Emma’s protests that it was too much trouble and she’d be fine with some sort of standard size. Soon a magical tape measure was zipping around her as Madame Malkin went to fetch the correct fabric.

McGonagall asked if she would be alright, before heading to another shop to pick up a trunk. Emma tried to distract herself as a robe was pinned to her form. Paranoid about accidentally getting stuck with one of the needles, she looked around as much as she could without moving. A number of fancy robes covered one wall, while the wall directly opposite seemed to be covered in a variety of garments in the four different color themes.

When Madame Malkin stood up and switched to her other side, she followed Emma’s gaze. “Any idea what house you’ll be in, dear?”

“House?”

“Of course, if you’re with Min-Professor McGonagall, you must be a Muggleborn. In Hogwarts, the school is divided into four houses, each house dorms together, eats together, takes classes together—and with the rest of the school too, of course, but your house tends to be where you make most of your friends and who you’ll spend a lot of time with.”

“Oh, how do you know which one you’ll be in?” It seemed like it wasn’t something that was just randomly assigned.

“Some people thinks its very easy to tell, but I think that’s a load of rubbish, if you don’t mind me saying.” That got a smile from Emma. “People rarely wear their personality on their sleeve so obviously. Still, each house is named for a founder of the school and the members of the house are said to be similar to the personality of each founder.”

“For Gryffindor, bravery and action mattered most. For Slytherin, cunning and ambition were key. Ravenclaw valued curiosity and learning. And finally, Hufflepuff prized hard work and loyalty.”

“Of course,” she waved, “most people have a mix of all of those traits, but everyone still has to be divided up by whichever is most important to them. There are all sorts of stereotypes about the houses, but I wouldn’t pay them much mind if I were you. After all, can you guess which house I or the Professor was in?”

Emma shook her head.

“Exactly. And Professor McGonagall is head of Gryffindor, so that just goes to show.”

“But when you do know what house you’re in, come by and buy a scarf – students love to show house pride and it can get cold up in Scotland.”

“Okay, I will,” Emma said, smiling at the older witch.

“See that you do, dear. And you’re done here.” Madame Malkin carefully levitated the pinned robe off of Emma. “Give me a few moments to whip up a few sets in your size and by then the Professor should be back with your trunk. Feel free to look around.”

Emma did just that, retreating to a back corner when a family of five, came in and began looking around. She noticed the teenager a few years older than she was head over and start looking at the blue scarves, while his siblings started to talk loudly about the houses. All of them were wearing robes already and Emma felt even more out of place in her second-hand clothes than before, especially now that she had worn a robe only to have it taken away.

Professor McGonagall re-entered the shop and either ignored or didn’t notice the double take from the teenager and his frantic whispering to his siblings as he recognized one of his professors. “Here you are, Miss Swan.”

She showed Emma a miniature trunk before she resized it, causing Emma to jump away hastily out of surprise. “T-thanks. Um, how much was it?” she suddenly remembered, putting her wand under her arm and pulling out her money box.

By the time she’d counted out the correct amount to McGonagall, Madame Malkin was back with four sets of robes in her arms, along with the other items of clothes that were on the list that came with her acceptance letter, and it was time for Emma to pay her as well. They also decided to pack only three sets and Emma pulled one of the new robes on directly over her normal clothes. She decided not to wear the hat though.

She looked down at herself as they left, her wand tucked in a special pocket and the empty box in her trunk. Part of her felt like a little kid playing dress up, but as they walked to the next stores, part of her felt like maybe she was finally fitting in.

“What’s Quidditch?” Emma asked as they passed _Quality Quidditch Supplies_ on their way to _Flourish and Blotts_.

“It’s the most popular wizarding sport played on broomstick. Each house at school has its own team, so you’ll be able to watch some games. You’re welcome to try out, but first years generally don’t make the team. Your father was a chaser starting his third year.”

“Really? What house was he in?” At McGonagall’s mildly surprised face, Emma elaborated, “Madame Malkin explained about the houses a little.”

“I see. Both of your parents were in Gryffindor, my house—as they valued bravery—until the end.”

Emma swallowed and pushed decisively on the door. “Which books do I need?”

Emma had never gotten to own brand new books. Normally all they got in foster care were second hand ones. That’s why she even picked up two extra books – one on Quidditch and one on modern wizarding history. McGonagall smiled at the first one, Emma had changed the subject back to the sport and she was surprised that the professor seemed to be a big fan.

The professor had frowned but not questioned the second one. Emma was fairly certain it would talk about her parents, McGonagall’s demeanor seemed to confirm that. The older woman hadn’t tried to talk her out of it though, which Emma was grateful for.

After the bookstore, they picked up a cauldron, which McGonagall obligingly shrunk for her to make it easier to carry, explaining a tap of her wand would resize it, but also not to attempt that until she was at school. The apothecary had the potion ingredients and equipment she needed as well—they had standard package deals for each year at Hogwarts.

Emma was trying to remember if they’d forgotten anything and was about to start juggling her purchases to pull out her letter when McGonagall spoke up.

“Now, the last item is optional. Would you like a familiar?”

Emma’s brow furrowed, “A familiar what?”

McGonagall suppressed a laugh, but she knew it would only make Emma feel self-conscious, even if she meant no harm by it. “A pet, Miss Swan,” she clarified as she gestured to _The Magical Menagerie_ and _Eeylop’s Owl Emporium_ a bit further down the street. “Hogwarts allows owls, cats, or toads, if a student so desires to bring one.”

Emma’s eyes lit up. “A pet? Really?”

McGonagall smiled, “You have enough money leftover I believe.”

Suddenly Emma’s face fell, they never got pets in group homes. Only real families had pets.  “I…I don’t think they’d let me keep a pet back at the….” Emma made an awkward gesture to mean the group home.

McGonagall’s voice was stern, “They will if I tell them you may have one.”

Emma had to believe that; she couldn’t imagine anyone disobeying the older woman, not even Marge. “Alright,” Emma said, although she continued to stand there hesitantly, looking at the menagerie store.

“Which type of familiar would you like? A toad?”

Emma scrunched up her face, she’d always wanted a dog, but that didn’t seem to be an option. “Not really.”

“I personally prefer cats,” McGonagall admitted and Emma remembered how she’d turned herself into one earlier. “But owls can be more useful to the typical student. You can use them to send and receive mail, so that could be helpful over the summer, to keep in touch with friends.”

Friends? Ones who’d do more than grudgingly pair up with her for a classroom exercise and only because their other friends in the class had already paired up with each other? More than just foster siblings who teamed up with you against crappy foster parents? Emma swallowed before quietly saying, “Can we look at cats please?”

“Of course,” McGonagall smiled and gestured the girl into the shop.

Twenty minutes later and Emma emerged with a very small tortoiseshell kitten tucked under her arm. It had been the smallest of the litter, covered in black, orange and white fur, and had one green eye and one yellow eye. McGonagall had explained there was a lot of conflicting rumors about mismatched eyes and so people tended to simply avoid them. That had done it for Emma.

The shop assistant had been hesitant at first but had let her attempt to bond with the kitten between McGonagall’s stern glare and the glare from every other cat in the place who had also turned to look at him with unblinking eyes. Emma had managed to coax the kitten into her arms and so he meekly allowed them to purchase her.

True to her word, when they returned to the group home after changing back into muggle clothes, McGonagall spoke with Marge, the woman in charge, and Emma was confusedly allowed to keep her kitten and her money for a trip to Kings Cross in a few weeks’ time.

Back in Emma’s bedroom, McGonagall handed Emma an envelope with her ticket. Emma only needed to look at it for a few seconds to look back up, confused. McGonagall explained without being asked, “The platform is indeed 9 ¾. It is hidden and not accessible to people without a ticket. When you get to the station, you’ll see a pillar marked for platforms 9 and 10. It’s actually a doorway. If you just push through the wall, you’ll find yourself on the platform.”

“Okay…” Emma sounded dubious.

“Now remember, no magic until you get onto the train. However, feel free to read any of your books – extra studying never hurt anyone.” Then McGonagall hesitated, Emma didn’t think she could do that. “About your parents, they were relatively famous for what they did and the way you went missing is rather well-known. You mentioned that you wish to continue to use your current name, which is up to you, but with that choice I’d be careful about who you do tell about your parentage, unless you’re prepared for the attention which comes with notoriety. Do you understand?”

Emma nodded. She could barely handle the information she’d received about her parents today from McGonagall and Ollivander, she wasn’t ready to have more strangers confront her about them. Not until she knew more about them. Not until she knew how she felt about them.

McGonagall smiled, “Then I bid you a good day and I will see you at the Welcome Feast on the first day.”

A lot of Emma’s continued anxiety vanished at that, “There’s going to be a feast?”

McGonagall gave her a rare smile. “Yes. Goodbye for now Emma.”

“Goodbye.” Then there was a crack of displaced air and the professor was gone.


	4. Rediscovered Connections

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Emma - Year 1  
> Regina - Year 2

Chapter 4: Rediscovered Connections

 

Emma’s first few days at Hogwarts had been confusing and exciting. Despite her nerves about the train station, she’d managed to make it through the wall and get on the train without a problem. On the train she’d made friends with a girl named Mary Margaret who ended up being sorted into Hufflepuff with her.

On their second day of classes however, the girls had gotten lost on the way to class. “I thought there was supposed to be a staircase here?”

“There was yesterday.” Emma felt frustrated and out of her depth. But really? Who thought a school with stairs that disappeared was a good idea? Still a wave of guilt swept over her, “God, MM, I’m sorry I took so long eating breakfast.”

“It’s okay Emma,” Mary Margaret sounded worried, but not angry at her yet, which was something. Although, just going by these first few days of knowing her, Emma didn’t really think Mary Margaret ever got angry. “First years get an extra five minutes during the first week, but we still need to figure out how to get to History of Magic.”

“Okay, okay.” Emma looked around as she tried to come up with a plan, “Here, the staircase came back, let’s go back to that landing with the fruit and cats and go right this time.”

Mary Margaret nodded, “Okay.”

They hurried onto the staircase as it moved, walking up carefully as it glided. Once it connected with the landing, they saw a Gryffindor girl running along the hallway after jumping off from another staircase further down. “Hey!” Emma called, hurrying after her. “You’re a first year too, right? Do you know how to get to History of Magic?”

“Yeah!” The brunette, hair flapping in two long braids behind her, looked back. “That’s where I’m going. Follow me! I know a short cut!” She didn’t sound worried, she sounded excited.

Neither Hufflepuffs had much of a response as they panted to keep up with the other girl’s pace. She turned down a corridor, and up a different staircase, saying, “Skip the second to last step—it’s not real.”

Obligingly, Mary Margaret and Emma both jumped over that step and then onto the landing with a heavy thump. Thankfully, the other girl finally slowed down to a fast walking pace.

“Wow, you know the castle really well!” Mary Margaret said, sounding very impressed.

“Yeah,” the girl preened at the compliment. “My granny is a professor and the groundskeeper—I’ve been all over the place! My name’s Ruby, by the way.”

Mary Margaret introduced both of them, but Emma was distracted by something else, “If you didn’t get lost, then how come you’re late?”

That brought Ruby down a peg and she threw her hands up in the air, “I overslept, alright. It’s just so nice to finally get to be in the dorms because I’m a real student that I stayed up too late last night.” She put a hand to her stomach and gave an exaggerated frown, “I didn’t even get to have breakfast.”

“That sucks,” Emma was easily won over to the side of anyone complaining about not having food. “Here, want this banana?” She pulled it out of her sleeve and held it out to Ruby.

“Wow, thanks!” Ruby gratefully accepted the fruit and began peeling it immediately.

“Why did you have that, Emma?” Mary Margaret sounded shocked, as if Emma had pulled an entire breakfast out of her sleeve instead of a single banana. “You can’t still be hungry after the breakfast you ate.”

Emma rolled her eyes, “I thought I might want a snack later, geez.”

They heard the bell signaling the start of class and picked up their pace, Ruby wolfing down the banana at impressive speed. After they headed up another staircase, down a short hallway, and up a spiral staircase, Ruby pointed, “There!”

They booked it to the end of the hallway, skidded into class, and nearly went through their professor. Emma had heard one of the older students say Professor Binns was a ghost, but she’d thought he was joking.

He looked disappointed that they’d made it within the five-minute grace period, but as the class continued, Emma started to suspect he just always looked like that. Still, they had made it and when all three of them exchanged smiles as they took their seats, Emma thought that maybe she managed to make another friend.

-x-x-x-

Ruby was pulling her down a hill, “Granny teaches Care of Magical Creatures, but we can’t take that until next year. She’s also the Keeper of the Keys—that’s why she led the boats over on the first day! So you’ve already met her, but I wanna introduce you properly.”

Emma still wasn’t sure about this. She didn’t feel comfortable with many adults and she’d only met classmates’ parents once or twice. The teachers here seemed weird, but pretty alright. Meeting Ruby’s grandmother, who’d raised her since Ruby’s parents had died soon after she was born like Emma’s had, was different. What if she could tell Emma wasn’t good enough for Ruby? What if she told Ruby to stop being friends with her? “But I don’t want to interrupt your tea time with her, I’m sure she doesn’t want—”

“Oh, shush.” Ruby flapped a hand at her nervous friend. “She’ll be so glad I’ve made a friend my own age instead of all the older kids. You’ll see.”

Emma wasn’t nearly as sure, but she could tell by now when ‘typical Gryffindor stubbornness’, according to the older students, was in full force.

They eventually made it to a small cottage near the edge of the forest. Emma relaxed slightly; at least it wasn’t a super fancy house. Ruby went right up to the rough wooden door and knocked vigorously. An indistinct shout came from inside the cabin until a stout older witch in a well-worn hat and dragon hide gloves opened the door.

“Hi Granny!” Ruby greeted the older woman in the doorway with a tight hug. Emma tried to ignore the pang of envy that went through her at the sight.

“Ruby, I wasn’t expecting you yet,” the rather stern looking woman said, looking down at Ruby over her glasses. Then she made a show of looking at her wrist, “Why its only two minutes past two, you’re practically early.”

“Gran-ny,” Ruby whined. “I’m not always late.”

“Aren’t you?” Granny raised one unimpressed eyebrow. Emma stifled a laugh because it really was true.

Evidently Emma wasn’t quiet enough because Ruby sent her a look as she stepped back from her grandmother and said, “Stop embarrassing me in front my friend.”

“Friend?” Granny finally leveled her gaze on Emma. It was a strong, no-nonsense look which rivaled even Professor McGonagall’s. Emma fought the urge to fidget.

Ruby smiled, “Yeah, this is my friend: Emma Swan. Emma, this is my Granny, Professor Lucas.”

“Uh. Hi, nice to meet you,” Emma hastily stuck out a hand; that was what you were supposed to do, right?

Granny gave her an unreadable look, before giving a polite nod and shaking her hand, “You as well. Why don’t you both come it? With how late my granddaughter normally is, I haven’t even put the kettle on.”

Granny ushered them into the cottage, which was simple but very warm and cozy. Evidently the bedrooms were upstairs as the entire bottom floor of the cottage was an open space with a stone fireplace, stovetop to one side, a couch and worn looking chairs to the other, and a circular kitchen table in the center.

Ruby went to the table and so Emma copied her, pulling out one of the wooden chairs, careful not to scratch the floor.

“How are you liking your classes?” Granny asked as she busied herself with the kettle.

Ruby launched into a break down of their first two weeks, talking about the different professors and how the stories she’d heard from the students over the years about everything differed from what they actually were like.

Emma spoke up when Ruby prompted her, but otherwise she knew she was far quieter than usual—she was just so worried about saying the wrong thing. At least once Granny brought over the tea, she also brought some rock cakes that had evidently just come out of the oven. Emma sipped at her tea, but helped herself to the cakes so she had a better reason for being so quiet. That is, until she tasted them, “Oh god, these are really good.” Hogwarts mealtime was probably her favorite thing about the school, so much good food and such variety, but these cakes knocked most of their desserts out of the water.

Granny looked pleased at her compliment and the way Emma took a second biscuit immediately after finishing the first. “Thank you, dear.”

Emma blushed and tuned back in to the story Ruby was telling about flying lessons. “We still haven’t been allowed to do anything beyond watch Madame Hooch fly and learn how to polish the brooms,” she complained, “How am I supposed to try out for the team if try outs happen before we even get to fly?”

“Team?” Emma asked, she was still trying to keep up with all the new information she was constantly hearing on a daily basis. Did they have a football team here? That didn’t seem right although she’d played a bit back at her other schools. Then she remembered, of course. “Right, Quidditch, sorry.” Even though she’d bought the book and they were having lessons with the brooms, it still seemed very absurd to her. The rules were strange and it had too many types of balls—plus, flying around on broomsticks? That just seemed so fairytale to her still—it belonged in Halloween movies, not in school.

“Yeah! First years never make the team really, but I want to at least try out.”

Emma nodded, Ruby was very into Quidditch. She loved to talk about the different teams and Emma was starting to get pulled into her enthusiasm more and more each time. She remembered just last week when Ruby had been drawn into an argument about the best team with her fellow Gryffindor, Killian.

Granny meanwhile commented on something else, “Ah, muggleborn, are you?”

Emma flushed, “Yeah.” She gave a half shrug and awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck, “Sort of.”

Granny raised her eyebrows and even Ruby looked up from her rock cake. “What do you mean? Are you a half-blood?”

“Well, uh actually,” Emma squirmed from the attention. Ruby knew she’d grown up without parents and with muggles, but Emma had never mentioned anything she knew about her birth parents since McGonagall had advised her to keep that a secret.  She hadn’t meant to reveal anything, but they were so nice… Surely saying this much wouldn’t hurt. “Here’s the thing, my parents _were_ wizards, but they died pretty soon after I was born so I was raised by muggles.”

“Really?” Ruby looked interested, “I hadn’t realized when you’d mentioned them, that they were wizards.”

“Yeah,” Emma gave another shrug. “Mc- _Professor_ McGonagall told me when she took me to get my things for school.”

Granny’s eyes looked her over shrewdly. “Emma, was it? Eleven years old? Are you Snow White’s daughter?”

Emma’s eyes widened and she nearly choked on her third rock cake. _How did Ruby’s grandmother guess?_   “You knew my birth mother?” All notion to hide who she was vanished when Granny said her birth mother’s name.

“You’re a White?” Ruby asked at nearly the same time as Emma, shocked.

Emma squirmed, it was still too hard to think of her being part of any family, “I—yeah. Professor McGonagall said that’s who my mother was. She said that people might act weird about it, so I haven’t told anyone.”

“No wonder we’re friends,” Ruby said, grinning while jumping up and down in her seat.

“What?” Emma asked, bewildered.

“My mom, Red Lucas, and your mom, Snow White, were best friends at Hogwarts.” Emma’s eyes went wide at that, “This is so cool!”

“Really?”

“Oh, yeah. Granny told me all about it. We have some pictures, you wanna see?” Ruby asked, eagerly, knowing how much she liked looking at photos of her own mother.

Emma just nodded. Real pictures? Of her mother? She’d never expected…

Ruby grinned and raced upstairs. Emma was still in shock and jumped when Granny refilled her mug of tea.

“Breathe girl. You look like you’re gonna pass out on us,” Granny’s voice was kind despite her words.

Emma gave her a shaky smile and took a hearty swallow of tea, “Sorry, I just never thought that I would… Professor McGonagall said they didn’t have any family left and so I figured there weren’t any pictures. I guess I should have known they had friends that might have some.”

“It’s alright.” Granny sat down heavily and Emma realized this was probably a big surprise for her too. “Couldn’t have expected you to know. Said you were raised by muggles? Part of that hiding spell your parents did. Very powerful, nothing we could do to find you. Took the Book of Admittance to find you, didn’t it?”

Ruby finally came down with a leather-bound photo album, “Sorry, the big one is up in the castle in my dorm. I’ll show you that later. This one should have some pictures with your mom in it though. Maybe your dad too.”

She sat down next to Emma and began flipping through the pages, which primarily featured a slim, dark haired girl who bore a striking similarity to Ruby. Emma thought her eyes were deceiving her until she realized wizard photos moved the same way the portraits and paintings up at the castle did. Somehow, the photographs moving was stranger than the oil paintings.

“Here!” Ruby pointed to a picture of two girls with their arms around each, standing just outside the very cottage they were in now.

One was taller, with darker hair, and a scarlet cloak that rustled in the breeze. Next to her was a girl with brown hair and a smile on her face. Both girls were laughing and in matching Gryffindor school uniforms. They looked to be a year or two older than Emma was now.

She studied the girl who had to be Snow White, her mother.

“You have her eyes,” Granny said from her other side, also looking at the pictures.

 “Yeah,” Emma breathed.

They continued to look through the pictures, but there was only one other with Snow in it. Ruby apologized, saying most of these were younger pictures of Red, not the ones from her Hogwarts years since Ruby had taken that album with her when she’d moved into the dorms.

Emma was still so grateful to know what her mother looked like. Reluctantly she closed the photo album, handing it back to Ruby.

They’d been here longer than they’d expected and it was almost time for dinner. Emma finally gave voice to the thought niggling at the back of her mind, “How did you know my parents named me Emma? Professor McGonagall seemed to think that no one knew my name. She said my first name shouldn’t be enough to tip anyone off, even with my age.” Emma asked, confused and worried. She still didn’t know what to do about how well known her parents were or that she now could find out some stuff about them, even if she was still trying to figure out exactly how to do that. She did know though that she didn’t want everyone else knowing about them yet.

“Most people don’t know. They’d never gotten to tell anyone beyond their closest friends. Your mother picked out the name a couple weeks before she gave birth and she told my Red and I.” Granny looked into the distance, remembering, “Knitted you a nice blanket, I did.”

Emma looked at her, more stunned than she had been throughout the whole conversation. “ _You_ knitted my blanket? White with the—”

“—purple ribbon. You still have it?”

Emma nodded mutely. “It’s in my room, right now.”

Granny smiled and placed a hand on Emma’s arm, “I’m glad you were able to hold onto it. Next time you come, bring the blanket. It must have some holes in it by now, I’ll fix them up for you.”

Emma didn’t trust her voice and just nodded.


	5. Flight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Regina - Year 2  
> Emma - Year 1

Regina hesitated at the edge of the Quidditch pitch, looking at the stands instead of the sign proclaiming tryouts for the Ravenclaw team were being held today. She eyed the other students beginning to warm up after presenting their wand to the privacy spell keeping the tryouts inaccessible to the other houses – Ravenclaw took their tryouts very seriously. They didn’t want anyone from the other houses getting a sneak peek at their team.

A shrill whistle interrupted her thoughts and she turned to look at the Captain, a sixth-year girl who was their lead chaser. She motioned for everyone to come over and gather around her in a loose half-circle.

“Alright, welcome to tryouts. Some of you know how this goes, but everyone needs to tryout fresh, regardless of if they had a position on the team last year. First, we’ll do a basic flying test – laps, weaving, descents. Secondly, quaffle handling and passing for everyone. Thirdly, dodging for everyone who isn’t trying out for beater and aiming for beaters. Fourth we have the joint keepers and chasers tryouts. Finally, we’ll end with the seekers.”

There were about twenty Ravenclaws there to tryout. Aside from the captain, three were returning team members, the keeper, a chaser, and a beater each, all of whom were expected to reclaim their positions. That was probably why only two other kids had come with keeper’s gear on. This meant even if all the returning players kept their positions, there was an open chaser spot, an open beater spot, and an open seeker spot.

Regina was here to try out for seeker.

For the first test, Captain Kiley had them test in groups of four, roughly by year. The upper years went first, and the only one asked to leave was a fifth year who’d gotten distracted by an owl and hit one of the stand towers. “Better luck next year, Seth!” called his year mate, who’d been a chaser last year, and who nearly hit one of the towers himself when he looked back over his shoulder to tease his friend.

Regina was in the last group to go with two first years and a fellow second year. She went over to the starting point by the northern set of hoops and lined up with her group. She gripped the school broom tightly in her hand, wishing she had her father’s broom with her instead of this borrowed one.

His broom was of a much lighter wood, in both color and weight, not necessarily built for the harsher winds or cold that plagued Britain unlike his native Puerto Rico or his ancestral Catalan. The bristles on South American brooms didn’t taper the way European brooms did and their charms were for sea spray, not rain. That type still flew very well over here though and it was the broom style Regina felt most comfortable on.

She was snapped back to the present when the captain blew her whistle and kicked off automatically. One first year boy rose into the air alright, but clearly had very little control and took a turn too sharply. Regina saw him veer off course during the second lap and winced when he hit the side of the stands even though he was cushioned from further pain by a quick levitation charm from one of the others.

After the fifth simple lap of the oval pitch, they all rose to do the five laps weaving around the towers of the stands and that was where the other second year dropped off, scraping against the corner of a tower on the final lap and tail-spinning out over the field. He managed to recover and didn’t hurt anything except his pride as he resignedly landed knowing that move had meant he’d failed.

Finally, on two towers next to each other, Regina and the first year girl had to go up and down the height of the tower. Technically, as with the other tests, there wasn’t any requirement to go a certain speed, but everyone had kept up a quick pace since the point wasn’t just to pass, but also to impress. The first year went a little too hard and shot up far too quickly on her fourth run up the tower. Regina had been feeling self-conscious that the other girl was going faster than her. But after the other girl couldn’t turn around quickly enough from her ascent and overshot by six meters getting herself disqualified, Regina felt a lot better about her speed and performance.

The result was that they were down to sixteen students and Regina was now the youngest flyer still in the tryouts.

“Good,” the captain said, with a nod. “Now that I know you’re all competent flyers, we can move forward. Random groups of five for the quaffle handling portion.”

Regina wasn’t as confident about her quaffle handling, but it soon became clear it was more about the basics of flying while distracted and performing a basic throw-and-catch than anything more complicated.

She wasn’t as good at flying with her knees as she would have liked but one of the third years couldn’t do it at all—and every position expected the player to be able to do that at least occasionally.

Regina recognized the two fifth year boys as close friends who became distracted until they’d defaulted to only passing to each other, something the captain disqualified them for since this was also about being part of a team.

Finally, two more students were released because they got into some sort of argument that resulted in one of them throwing the quaffle at the other’s head and further devolved into a shoving match that nearly brought both players to the ground.

Now, they all hovered in a loose formation as the captain summoned beater bats for the three students trying out for that position. Gordon was a sturdy looking fifth year who’d made the team as a third year and was expected to keep his position. He looked at the other two more as possible partners than real competition. The boy looked very nervous while the girl looked like she would hex him if that got her the spot.  

Kiley had them form three different groups of three each, herself included in one of the them, and then set the three prospective beaters to each guard a group. A shouted spell released three bludgers which zoomed toward the hovering students.

Regina tried to follow all three, glad her main focus was going to be on a single ball, and tried not to flinch every time their beater hit one with a loud crack.

After a few minutes, the captain directed each group to begin moving around the field, upping the challenge. Eventually, one of them slipped—the nervous boy hit a glancing blow that wasn’t enough to divert the ball from its mission. His group scattered but it a still managed to hit the tail end of one of the chaser’s brooms and send her in a tailspin. Luckily, she recovered well enough and the captain ordered all the bludgers to be caught and locked up again.

Regina and the other seeker tryout sat out the next part as the Captain put the prospective keepers and chasers through their paces.

After the longest part of the tryouts finished, leaving them with their returning keeper and new chasers, it was her turn.

“Alright you two,” Kiley said, eyeing her and another boy, the only ones remaining. “The tryout for seeker is simple – whoever catches the snitch first is on the team. Since we don’t want this to go on too long, we’ll all be flying around and tossing the quaffle, but no bludgers will be active and I’ve got an older snitch that should be a bit quicker to catch.”

Regina and Faris nodded to show their understanding and she returned the gesture. “Mount up.”

Regina and the fourth-year boy mounted their brooms. He looked focused, not on her, but on the snitch. She’d heard him talking to a couple of the others trying out. The last seeker was a seventh year who’d graduated and held the position since his third year, so this fourth year had never had much of a chance for the position—seekers were the least likely to change year-over-year according to _Quidditch Through the Ages_. He was determined to win and barely considered a second year a threat, saying he was surprised she’d even managed to last this long.

She would show him, Regina vowed as they slowly ascended. She belonged on this team, she belonged in the air.

The captain didn’t blow her whistle, she trusted that their attention was fixated on her as she withdrew the snitch and its wings unfurled. They beat once, twice, before picking up to the typical rapid flutter; the whisper of sound picked up by Regina’s ears even as far away as she was—or maybe it was just her imagination. Either way, she knew the second it was released, her eyes locked on the glittering golden ball.

It hovered briefly, before taking off like a shot in the opposite direction of the two would-be seekers as if it knew they specifically sought after it.

In unison, both students turned their brooms and took off after it, one on top of the other as they chased it around the entire pitch. A dizzying change in direction that Regina wasn’t expecting slowed her down when it shot up instead of sideways. She gritted her teeth as she turned, arching around to cut it off at an angle as it flew, up and right, with Faris following closely from behind as Regina came from the left.

It turned again, heading straight into the middle of the field. This time, it was Regina who managed to stay closest on the trail, turning completely upside down in her race to follow it. She swung around to finish the Sloth Grip Roll, the preferred move of her favorite player and one which she’d practiced for hours over the summer. The fourth year wasted precious time banking around and was now markedly behind her as they followed the golden ball.

It was clearly trying its best to lose them as it zigzagged up and down, neither would-be seeker was confident enough to attempt to anticipate its moves when they were both so close and so they doggedly followed its every swerve. It circled both beaters, who each froze automatically lest they cause a crash. Technically, it would have been a better test if they had continued to fly as if not noticing, but that was one thing in theory and another when two students were hurling at you both pushing their brooms as fast as they would go.

After going under the captain and then over the keeper, with Regina following closely enough that her foot almost knocked the keeper in the head if he hadn’t ducked, it spiraled up one of the stand towers. Faris took notice of this and changed his direction to shoot straight up while Regina circled after it, a gamble that paid off as he regained precious ground he’d lost earlier.

Regina had been drawing continually closer and knew she’d need to actually reach out and catch it soon if she had any hope of winning.

A last stroke of luck came when, in a desperate attempt to be rid of them, the snitch headed for the goalposts. Regina fell very close to her broom and managed to follow it through the main hoop and, using her new-found closeness to the broom to steady herself, reached out her hand to close her fingers around the small gold ball.

There was brief confusion when she pulled up her broom with her other hand before the others realized she had actually caught it.

Faris scowled ferociously, but couldn’t dispute the win.

“Good,” the captain said with a decisive nod, “we have our seeker—we have our team. Tryouts are over.”

-x-x-x-

Their first game dawned windy but not rainy, a fortuitous turn of events as Regina was still working on becoming a good flyer in the rain. Their newer chaser looked very nervous and he’d been silent through all of breakfast. Kiley had insisted they eat together before every game. Regina would have thought it was just because he was new, but the returning beater looked a bit green too.

Regina had to admit she felt none of his nerves. She was eager to play, eager to show her skills off. As they waited in the locker room to file out, Isha, the new beater, looked over at her and gave a grin that Regina felt herself returning. They were here to win.

Regina went over their strategy for beating Gryffindor once more. They liked to think of themselves as high scorers, but the captain didn’t think their new team of chasers was up to it this year. Counting on their seeker, a veteran of the team for the past two years, to overestimate their scoring potential was the center of Ravenclaw’s plan.

Regina was warned to keep very close track of the score so that she didn’t catch the snitch too early—it wouldn’t matter if they caught it only to lock in Gryffindor’s lead. That meant her secondary goal was to distract the Gryffindor seeker and make sure he didn’t catch the snitch. He was a solid seeker, with a record for catching the snitch during more than half of his games—a very good record. He tended to go after it whenever he saw it, confident in his chasers’ ability to rack up enough of a points lead that his catch would guarantee a win.

Finally, the team was called out by Madame Hooch.

“3, 2, 1, let’s go!” the captain called as they all flew out onto the pitch.

Wind whipped through her hair as they flew out and Regina could feel excitement rush through her veins. This, the wind in her hair, surrounded by her teammates, her housemates coloring the stands blue and brass—this was what it was about.

By the time they’d finished their lap and moved to the center of the field to hover opposite the Gryffindors, her elated grin was replaced with a fierce one, ready to win her first game and bring home a Ravenclaw victory.

“Are we ready?” Madame Hooch asked, looking between the two coaches and holding the quaffle between Kiley and Gryffindor’s lead chaser. Kiley and the Gryffindor’s captain, a beater, nodded.

With a shrill whistle, Madame Hooch threw the quaffle in the air and released the bludgers and snitch below. The players scattered, Gryffindor catching the ball and taking off for the hoops, racing against the Ravenclaw keeper. A bludger knocked from Ravenclaw’s experienced beater bought their keeper enough time to get into place.

“Good luck, newbie!” her opposing seeker called, before racing away.

Regina watched all of this as she sped away backwards, a tricky move but one their keeper had been teaching her as her eyes tracked the Gryffindor seeker. He was looking intently in the northern corner before banking and switching to a drifting pattern, looking to survey the whole field.

The captain had drilled her into that the snitch almost always got lost in the confusion of the kick off of the game and that it was better to simply move out to a good spot and start her search.

Regina focused on keeping Char, her rival seeker, too distracted to notice that Ravenclaw was starting to take a significant lead. He still seemed aware Gryffindor was falling behind, but just not how badly. Whenever Regina thought he looked too complacent, she’d veer off in a random direction, drawing his and the crowd’s attention, but ultimately did nothing except inhibit his own search for the snitch.

The crowd was enjoying the regular seeker chases—normally seekers weren’t so active. The students were also entertained by the unexpected Ravenclaw score lead since Gryffindor had come in second last year to Slytherin in the House Cup. They were still a favorite to win the cup this year—nothing motivated a Gryffindor like wounded pride—but their new recruits and loosing their star chasers was clearly a disadvantage they’d not owned up to yet.

Regina had been planning her next diversion when a loud two-finger whistle came from Isha. Regina’s head jerked in her direction, that signal meant that they were currently ahead by enough points that it wouldn’t matter who caught the snitch. Now her job wasn’t to make sure she caught it, but to make sure the snitch was caught as soon as possible before they lost their lead.

She put Char in the corner of her eye and began her own serious search for the snitch, eyes tracking any small movement. She automatically drifted forward when she caught a flash of gold up near one of the stand towers, thinking she saw it, before she scowled and dismissed it as a fluttering scarf that had gotten away from some Gryffindor. She wished her first match was against Slytherin—between the two of houses there wouldn’t be nearly as much gold in the audience.

Char hissed out a loud breath and took off to the left. Regina immediately banked and followed, having learned he only made that hissing sound when he actually saw the snitch—not that he’d tried to feint her very often; it wasn’t his style.

He was in a steep dive and as she closed in on him, Regina saw the golden ball too. She moved closer to her broom and urged it to go faster the way she did her horses at home.

A sudden instinct and an indistinct whistling noise caused her to risk a look behind. Immediately she veered to the side and rolled, narrowly missing a bludger. Char must have heard her and he also managed to adjust his descent so that it went by his right.

Still, Regina regained enough ground that they were nearly next to each other—no one would be sending any more bludgers their way since they couldn’t count on it missing their own teammate.

She was glad for her goggles as she continued urging her broom faster and faster, wind blowing past her so quickly that she tightened her grip on her broom. The snitch was now racing along the very bottom of the of the field, so close she adjusted her feet so they wouldn’t skim the ground.

Closer, closer. Her and the opposing seeker were shoulder to shoulder now, not jostling as hard as they might for fear of catching themselves on the ground only a foot or two away. Finally, with hands outstretched, both reached for the snitch.

Char was older and taller, with longer arms, and so inevitably, his hand closed around the snitch and her own closed fruitlessly around his.

Distant cheering made itself known as they both pulled up and slowed, Char pumping his fist in the air.

Regina’s eyes sought Kiley’s as she flew in a sideways arch and met her captain’s. A triumphant grin broke across the older girl’s face as a loud whoop from Isha could be heard and Regina felt a smile grow on her lips as her team flew together.

She barely saw the smile fade from Char’s face as he realized he’d caught the snitch too soon and that Ravenclaw had won by twenty points, even with his 150 point bonus from catching the snitch.

It was difficult to hug someone while you were all on brooms, but most teams managed it and hers did too. Regina found herself in a loose group of all of her teammates, pats on the back and arms around her shoulders in congratulations. The wide grin didn’t fade from her face until she fell asleep that night.

-x-x-x-

Regina left Professor Flitwick’s office with her eyes wide and her heart beating dully in her chest. She clutched the Howler to her chest and walked quickly to her room more out of habit than any ability to feel fear for its contents. Flitwick had already delivered the news, what more could mother say?

It went off in the second-year sitting room, but no one else was around so it didn’t matter.

Her ears rang with her mother’s words, reiterating what Flitwick had told her.

“DISGRACEFUL, UNGRATEFUL, USELESS GIRL! DID YOU THINK I WOULDN’T KNOW YOU WENT BEHIND MY BACK! NO CHILD OF MINE WILL PLAY THAT BARBARIC GAME! YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF! WE WILL DISCUSS YOUR PUNISHMENT WHEN YOU NEXT COME HOME!”

Regina watched the red envelope shred itself to pieces and burn to ash. She stared at the tiny pile on the floor, her emotions finally making themselves known as her numbness melted away under the heat of her mother’s anger.

Flinging her door shut she threw herself on her bed and dissolved into sobs.

-x-x-x-

Regina made her way slowly to the practice fields, not late, but late enough that everyone else would already be there. She drew around the pitch, already hearing the distant sound of brooms in the air and felt her stomach bottom out.

She kept going though, tightening her hands into fists and rounding the entrance. Once she’d made it under the stands, she came out onto the field and blinked her eyes in the sunlight. As she neared the center of the pitch, she heard one of the chasers call, “Navar, you’re late!”

“Where’s your practice gear?” Isha asked, swooping low to hover just above her head.

Everyone automatically gathered in a loose circle around her in their confusion.

“I’m off the team,” Regina said abruptly.

Everyone stared at her in shocked silence. The keeper landed with a hard thump as they all crowded closer.

One of the chasers looked bewildered, “I don’t understand. What happened?”

“Did you get in trouble in class?” the keeper asked, angry.

“I don’t remember us loosing a ton of house points,” another chaser said.

Regina cleared her throat and tried to bring some moisture to her already dry mouth, “My mother found out I was on the team.” She swallowed again and her voice was pleading as she went on, “I’m really sorry, I don’t know how. I don’t know how she found out.”

“What does that matter?” Isha was starting to sound pissed.

“Yeah, I don’t get it,” their keeper just sounded confused.

“Does your mom not want you to be on the team as a second year?” the newest chaser, a third year, asked. Her dad hadn’t let her try out last year, something she’d complained about often. Some parents found the sport too dangerous for their kids or too distracting when it came to keeping up with classwork—that was why all teams needed specific permission to take on a first year player.

“I told her,” the captain’s confused voice rang out over her other teammates’ voices.

“What?” Regina asked sharply, staring at her in surprise.

Kiley still didn’t seem to understand the full weight of what she’d done, “Parents are invited to games. I wrote her a letter, congratulating you on our first game and inviting her to come to the next one. I write one for everyone’s parents. Why would that make her take you off the team?”

Regina could barely stop from reeling back, her captain had done this to her. “Mother hates Quidditch.”

“Oh,” the captain looked taken aback.

Regina couldn’t stop her glare, “A lot, actually. She thinks it’s useless and frivolous and too dangerous and reckless and, and unlady-like.”

Kiley’s eyes widened with each word, she looked like she couldn’t comprehend anyone disliking Qudditch so much. “I just thought...”

“You should have asked first,” Regina knew her voice was cold, the way Mother’s was when she was angry, but for once she was so furious she didn’t care. Flying had felt like freedom and now it had been snatched from her as surely as any other piece of freedom she’d grabbed for herself before. “Now I won’t get to play ever again. And I’ll be in trouble at home.”

“I can—”

“You’ve done enough!” Regina cut her off, but she couldn’t stop her voice from breaking slightly on the end and she knew her misery had come through. She wrapped her arms around her middle and willed herself not to cry.

Without looking, she heard Kiley jump on her broom and fly away—to try to persuade Flitwick or just to get away from her, Regina didn’t know. The other two chasers followed her, but Regina refused to look after them or at anyone else, refused to meet their pitying gazes.

“Did you really think you could have kept it from her?” the keeper asked gently.

Regina stiffened and drew herself up, offended that he thought she couldn’t keep a secret. “Of course, why not?”

“Regina,” the fifth-year beater said, a bit condescendingly, “Surely it would have come out eventually.”

“No, it wouldn’t have,” Regina replied stubbornly, before despair crept in past her anger. “And it doesn’t matter anymore, does it? Goodbye.”

Isha flew after her, “Come on Navar, can’t you change her mind?” Regina hated to turn her back on her new friend, but she couldn’t keep looking at her, at them, at her team. Not when it wasn’t hers anymore.

“No,” Regina said so resolutely, even the stubborn beater didn’t push her further. “No one can do that.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It never ends up in the story, but Regina's favorite Quidditch team is the Appleby Arrows, an actual canon Quidditch team. How perfect is that?


	6. On the Run

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Emma - Summer after Year 1  
> Regina - Summer after Year 2

Emma slowly felt her good spirits from hanging out with her friends on the train ride fall the further she got from the Hogwarts Express. She’d left the magical platform to find her new social worker. He looked bored and irritated, as if he’d had to wait a long time even though she knew the train had been perfectly on time.

He’d ushered her into a car and driven through the London streets to the outskirts of the city at a pace that was rather terrifying. He seemed annoyed that she went to a boarding school, muttering under his breath about never hearing of a foster kid who got shipped to Scotland for school and then sent back to London every summer.

Sprout had asked if she’d liked to stay up in Scotland near to school, but after admitting she couldn’t stay at Hogwarts itself, Emma had told her she’d prefer to be in London. She was glad to see some familiar sights, but overall the thought of returning to a group home was really starting to bring her down. That was why she’d been trying really hard not to think about it.

She didn’t feel any better by the time they pulled up to the house, at least it didn’t look as bad as some of the other homes she’d been in. Her social worker told her to leave her things in the car and ushered her up the walk.

A middle-aged lady in green opened the door soon after they’d knocked and welcomed them inside with a fake polite smile that was aimed primarily at Mr. Hare. Still, both were brought to the small kitchen table set up off the living room. Emma scoped out what she could of the house. Old, but functional furniture, a girl a couple of years older was lounging in front of a TV, her eyes flicked briefly to Emma’s but didn’t give anything away. She mostly looked bored. That was potentially a good sign. If it was a bad house, the other girl’s eyes would have given it away—Emma had gotten very good at reading that.

She sat down in her chair and the woman introduced herself as Sharon before spending most of the rest of the conversation talking to Mr. Hare. Emma frowned, resenting how much she’d gotten used to adults talking to her rather than about her. She kept her ears alert for anything alarming, but the bulk of it was standard stuff. Mostly, she was itching to have her wand back in her hand and to look at one of her textbooks—just to reassure herself Hogwarts was real. Everything seemed so mundane and normal, like no time had passed since she’d left for school. It was starting to feel like magic was just a pretty dream.

Finally, they came to the part of the conversation where Emma agreed to follow the rules of the house and behave herself and the three of them went back to Mr. Hare’s car to retrieve her things.

As soon as her trunk and bag were out of his car’s boot, her social worker peeled out of the driveway at the same rate at which he’d pulled up.

Emma watched him go with a strange detachment before turning back to Sharon and her new home for the summer. The woman wrinkled her nose as she finally spotted the cat curled up on top of Emma’s trunk, “What is this?”

Emma picked up the front of her trunk carefully as she pulled it upright to roll into the house so that it didn’t disturb Splotch who was sat on it. Emma fidgeted at the question, not liking the older woman’s tone, “Um, my cat. Her name is—”

“Your school lets you keep a cat?” Skepticism and disgust were evident in her voice.

“Yeah,” Emma said, searching for what to say besides, ‘they let us keep familiars because I’m a witch’. “They, uh, they think pets are important,” was all she managed to come up with.

“Hm,” she looked at Emma with exaggerated disappointment, “Now Emma, I don’t know what your other homes were like, but here we don’t approve of lying and it isn’t tolerated.”

“What?” Emma was confused. What was she talking about? Also, what group homes had this lady heard about that did allow lying? Her condescension was starting to annoy Emma, she just wanted to go to bed.

“I have never heard of a boarding school which allowed pets,” the lady stated definitely. She then continued, in a tone that implied Emma must be stupid for trying to fool her, “You’re lying about this being your cat.”

“They do! She is!” Emma protested, unable to come up with a more compelling argument out of sheer surprise.

Sharon crossed her arms, “Then where is the carrier for your cat? Hm? The litter box? The filthy thing doesn’t even have a collar.” She sniffed at the end and clearly thought she’d proved her case beyond a doubt.

“She’s not filthy!” Emma hated that she felt tears welling in her eyes. She’d gotten soft at Hogwarts, she used to be so much tougher when adults were being jerks.

“And everything else I said?” Sharon replied.

Her mind worked frantically, “They—Ho—the school provided all that, I didn’t get to bring it with me.”

“No,” Sharon simply said. “You found this cat on your way here and are clearly trying to lie in order to keep it. Well, I won’t hear of it. You may come in, provided that cat goes back on the streets where it belongs.”

All Emma could hear was the implication that that was where Emma belonged too, but that Sharon was making a very generous exception letting Emma in. Emma was outraged, “I’m not abandoning Splotch!”

“Then I guess you’re not coming in.” And Sharon slammed the door in her face.

Emma stared at the door in shock. Now what?

-x-x-x-

Emma ended up heading to a nearby park, with her trunk and Splotch. Hiding under a bridge, Emma was even more grateful for the inherited invisibility cloak—Granny had given it to her at the end of the school year, saying it had belonged to her mother. She had it partially draped over her as she tried to plan her next move. She knew Sharon likely hadn’t expected her to just leave, but she could tell from the woman’s demeanor that she was never going to let Splotch in. Emma refused to leave Splotch behind or even to try to explain to the cat that she needed to sleep outside where whatever could happen to her.

Emma considered sneaking Splotch in, but she knew Sharon would be suspicious from now on. Besides, she couldn’t trust the other girls, and who knows what the lady would do to Splotch if she found her. No, she couldn’t stay there.

But where could she go?

She had her social worker’s card, but she didn’t trust him either. Also she didn’t have a phone. She certainly didn’t have any friends in the city. And all of her Hogwarts friends didn’t live near London, not that she’d want to mess up their summer holiday by trying to stay with them. And would she be reported missing? Probably not for a while yet, Sharon didn’t seem the type until Mr. Hare came looking for her for a monthly check in

Emma leaned her head back against the stone of the bridge. How had everything gone to hell so quickly? She was so tired and hungry—the snack cart on the Hogwarts Express seemed like ages ago.

She shut out the noise of her stomach with the ease of old habit, even if she hadn’t had to in months—being hungry was still far more familiar than being full—and drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

The next morning, she woke when a strong beam of sunlight hit her full in the face. Grumbling she pulled the cloak off of her head, before freezing in case someone saw her head suddenly appear. She quickly pulled it back over her and looked around. She saw a morning jogger double take and squint in her general direction before shrugging and running on.

She heaved a sigh of relief and looked to see if anyone else was around. She had to wait another five minutes as a mother with her kids and a pram took their sweet time looking at ducks before she could reveal herself.  

Emma stuffed the cloak back into the trunk and pulled it up onto its wheels. She knew she needed to get out of the park and into a less rural area. A kid with a suitcase alone in a park was just too weird for her to go unnoticed.

She checked her case and resettled Splotch on her shoulder before she set out. They’d passed a train station close by last night—that’s where she needed to go.

Drawing on her memories from last year, she managed to use the very small amount of muggle money she had left to get on a train that took her to the heart of London where travelling with a suitcase would look much more normal. The cashier didn’t even ask why she was alone even though Emma had prepared a story about her ticket getting lost and that a fake brother and mother were waiting for her.

Once she got off, she started to walk the rest of the way to Diagon Alley, she needed more money and Gringotts was the only place to get it. It would have been a lot quicker to take the underground, but that would have cost money she didn’t have. Walking was free, even if she was starting to get very thirsty.

Finally, Emma reached the bank she’d come through with McGonagall. The cooler air inside the stone building was very welcome and Emma stopped to use the toilet and the water fountain. While in there, she pulled on her school cloak and put the hood up, hoping it would help keep anyone from realizing how young she was. She made her way down to the wizarding section of Gringotts, having already gone over how much she wanted to take out.

Since she was on an allowance, she only got a certain amount each year. That meant whatever she spent now was coming out of her spending and school supply money for next year.

The goblins didn’t blink twice at her being on her own and took her quickly to her vault for her withdrawal.

The first thing she bought was lunch at the Leaky Cauldron. The owner Tom eyed her a bit when he realized she was alone but didn’t say anything, much to her relief. After overhearing he had rooms for rent, she ended up getting one for the night.

Still, the room also confirmed what she’d suspected all along, it was way too pricey to stay here more than a night or two. She needed to figure something else out. But what? She hated the idea of slinking back to that foster home. Besides, that still left the problem of Splotch.

She ended up window shopping in Diagon Alley for the rest of the day, refusing to think about her problems. However, once she got back to her room that night, it all came crashing back down on her.

She was pacing and panicking now, before collapsing on her bed with nothing resolved. Then there was a pecking noise at her window that drew her out of her thoughts. She went over and saw a white owl perched on the window sill. It took a minute of looking through the distorted glass to realize she recognized the bird.

She opened the window as the Lucas’ grey owl flew in, dropping an envelope on her bed and perching on a chair. Ruby had said she would write, but Emma didn’t think she would so soon. Emma stared at the letter from her friend and felt a few tears fall. She would give anything to be back at Hogwarts with Ruby and Granny.

Shakily, she reached over and opened up the letter.

Hi Emma!

        I hope Silver wasn’t caught by the muggles you’re with. I told him to be sneaky. I know we just left, but how’s your summer going? Have you been able to find the library Granny told us about yet? What about the Quidditch museum?

The school is so empty with everyone gone. I hate it. I can’t wait ‘til we go on holiday. I think we’re going to see some of the schools in Asia this year! Or someone with some sort of rare creature is having a problem that requires consultation? All I know is Granny’s being really secretive so it must be something good. I’ll tell you as soon as I know. But no matter where we go, Silver will be able to find me, so write back soon!

Your friend,

Ruby

Emma stared at the casual letter from her friend, feeling the normalcy in it envelope her. She actually laughed aloud. Emma went over to the desk to write her reply before stalling on what exactly to write. She didn’t want to lie to Ruby, but she didn’t want her to worry or pity her either. She chewed the end of her quill as she thought. Finally, gathering up her courage, she began to write.

Hi Ruby,

The foster home tried to say Splotch wasn’t really my cat and wouldn’t let me keep her. They wouldn’t let me in until I left her so I ran away. I think I’ll try to go back to Kings Cross. Maybe if I come back to Hogwarts, Sprout will let me stay since the home told me to leave or maybe McGonagall can scare my foster home into letting me keep her like the first time.

Your holiday sounds fun. I can’t wait to hear where you go.

Your friend,

Emma

Emma decided to let Silver spend the night since the bird was already asleep. She went to her bed and tried her best to do the same. Luckily, she was so tired from last night and such a long day, it was easy.

After giving her reply to Silver the next morning, she went down to breakfast only to come back once she was finished and start packing almost immediately. Tom had watched her the entire time and she could tell he was starting to be very suspicious that she was by herself. He let her check out without a problem, but she could feel his gaze on her the entire time she walked out.

She eventually made it to Kings Cross, however, after getting on the platform, she was informed there would be no service to Hogwarts until next fall. Emma made up a story about forgetting something on the train and was told to write a letter to her head of house. She thanked them and left, turning that idea over in her head as a possibility for what she could do.

That night she broke into an abandoned building with _Alohomora_ , having heard rumors the Trace didn’t work in public areas—it was primarily placed on muggleborn homes and neighborhoods, not on the kids themselves. This seemed to be true as no one from the Ministry of Magic showed up to yell at her. She fell into an uneasy sleep, exhausted by the days walking and unable to think of what to do next.

It was early morning and she’d been woken by some loud birds who had evidently gotten territorial about her sleeping spot. She ended up sitting on the curb on an alley next to the building she’d spent the night at. She had her wand out next to her and was thinking hard about where to go. She knew she’d made the Leaky Cauldron owner suspicious so she couldn’t risk going back to Diagon Alley too soon.

Emma tapped her wand against her leg absently as she thought about where to go next.

Suddenly there was a loud _bang_ and a faint flash of light. Emma blinked at the bright purple bus that was now stopped directly in front of her and which she was fairly certain had come from the direction of the alley’s dead end. She blinked again, was she so sleep deprived she was hallucinating? She hadn’t thought she’d slept _that_ badly.

The bus hissed as the door opened and a man stepped out, saying in a bored tone of voice, “Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. Just stick out your wand hand, step on board, and we can take you anywhere you want to go.” The young man yawned as he looked around and his eyes finally landed on her. “You the one that called us?”

Emma had not gotten this far in her life without the ability to roll with things, “Uh, yeah, yup,” Emma jumped to her feet, “That was me.”

“Great,” the man said in the most unenthusiastic voice she’d heard. “Let’s get you settled in and be on our way. Where are you heading?”

Emma’s mind blanked and at the man’s impatient look, she said the first thing that popped into her mind, “The London Library please.”

“Right, five sickles that is.”

Emma quickly began digging in her pockets for some sickles as he pulled her trunk up the steps and down the aisle. She handed him the money before moving to sit down next to her trunk, Splotch a comfortable warmth on her shoulder.

Her mind raced as she tried to figure out, what to do next and why she’d said what she had.

“You’re currently the last stop, that okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. No rush.”

-x-x-x-

Emma ended up getting off at the library and even managed to find the wizard entrance, per Granny’s original instructions when she’d told Emma about how this library had separate wizard only sections. Granny had given her a list of a number of wizarding tourist attractions and locations for her to explore over the summer if she wanted to. The Library seemed like the best choice for finding information.

Emma threw her cloak over her trunk and walked in very carefully so as not to arose suspicion. The librarian had barely looked at her beyond asking her to sign in and she didn’t even blink at Splotch riding on Emma’s head. She tried to get Emma to sign up for a library card, but Emma promised she wouldn’t check out any books—she didn’t want the librarian to find out she didn’t have an address.

She hid herself near the back, in a musty room with a single high window, trying to think of something she could research. She’d only picked up a single wizard guide book to London when the flutter of wings caused her to drop it on to the table. To her surprise, it was Ruby’s owl silver, back again.

This letter was much shorter and messier to read,

Emma

What?! They can’t do that! What do you mean you ran away? Where are you?

            Write me back as soon as you get this!

~Ruby!

Emma hastily, turned the letter over and scribbled her response on the back.

Hi Ruby,

            Sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you. I’m at that library Granny told us about, trying to decide what to do next. Its okay, I’ll figure it out. Please don’t tell anyone—I don’t want to get into any more trouble.

~Emma

Emma sent Silver off with her letter and went back to the guide book. There were some wizard hostels that were for travelling young witches and wizards, but they might work as long as no one asked how old she was. They were really for those who’d already graduated from school though, so she didn’t think she’d have much luck. Still, the book was mostly a bust and probably outdated given that it was from four years ago.

She tried to find information on Hogwarts letting students stay over the summer, even though Sprout had said it wasn’t allowed. Unfortunately, most of what she found were history books about the school’s founding and how well it fared over the centuries—not exactly useful.

She set off to find a newer guide book and some food, hiding her trunk with her cloak. When she came back from the library café, the owl was waiting for her impatiently.

Emma

Too late for that now. Granny’s on it. She said to go to the big fountain by the entrance.

~Ruby!

Emma felt her panic grow, what did Ruby mean? Why did she have to go to the fountain?

Ruby!

            You shouldn’t have told her. What can she do about muggle foster homes? This was already bad enough, what if I get expelled now?!

~Emma

Regardless of her worries, Emma decided to head to the fountain. She debated bringing her cloak, but decided to leave it over her trunk.

She made her way back to the front, only getting lost twice and snuck a peak at the fountain when she got near enough. A couple of wizards were sitting nearby, but no one she recognized. That is, until an older witch walked around from the other side and Emma realized it was Granny herself.

In her shock she hastily made her way over to the professor, “Professor Lucas?”

Granny’s eyes fixed onto Emma the second she spoke and she met Emma halfway, “Emma! There you are!”

Emma still couldn’t believe her eyes, “What are you doing here?”

“What do you think? I’m here for you. Is what you wrote true?” Granny had her hands on her hips and she sounded angrier than Emma had ever heard before. “Were you kicked out by those who were supposed to be taking care of you this summer?”

“Well, technically they told me to leave Splotch outside or I couldn’t come in. So I ran away.”

Granny sighed, shaking her head. “Oh, child.”

Emma glared up at Granny, her arm protectively on Splotch’s head. “I’m not giving her away!”

“Of course not.” Emma blinked at that answer. Granny looked at her a bit impatiently, “Come on, lets go sort this out then. Grab your things.”

-x-x-x-

Granny may have been a witch, but she managed to hail a black taxi with ease and gave him an address. She had some piece of paper in her lap she kept consulting. When Emma snuck a look, she saw the words changed as Granny muttered to herself and tapped it with her pen, which seemed to be her wand in disguise.

“What are we going to tell them?” Emma asked, apprehensively.

“The truth,” Granny said without looking up. “Leave them to me. Hopefully, we’ll get you sorted out and into a proper group home by the end of the night.”

Emma thought the older witch was being rather optimistic about the foster care system, but she could tell when an adult didn’t want to hear any objections. So she settled back into her seat with a sigh and chewed her lower lip.

She was still in shock that Granny was here. She’d only sent that letter to Ruby to complain, not because she’d expected any help. Of course, many times she’d wished someone would swoop in and save her—or at least listen to her side of things, but she’d stopped having any real expectations of that really happening a couple years ago. Around the time when her neighbor had moved away rather than face the fact that his friend was hitting children.

Before she knew it though, they were outside the Family Services office. Since it was only the afternoon, it was still full of busy looking people who didn’t spare her and Granny a glance as they emerged from the taxi and pulled out her trunk. Granny showed no confusion regarding the muggle money she paid to the driver. “Ready?”

Emma nodded, “Yes, ma’am.”

Granny nodded much more decisively than Emma had and strode into the building like there was no way she wouldn’t get what she wanted. Emma did her best to copy her.

Finally, after being redirected enough times that Granny had a permanent scowl on her face, they were directed to the office of the woman who appeared to her social worker’s boss. This woman seemed at least familiar enough with Emma to have her file and give her a look that Emma was used to seeing. The “what did you do wrong this time” look.

Still she plastered a pleasant enough smile on her face as she directed Emma to a chair outside her office and Granny to a seat inside. “What seems to be the problem, Mrs Lucas? Has Emma done something?”

“It’s Professor Lucas.” Granny corrected as she took off her shawl and hat, making it plain this was not going to be a quick visit. “I’m a Professor at Emma’s boarding school. She is supposed to be staying at a group home you lot set her up at. Then my granddaughter, a friend of hers, gets a call from the poor girl, frantic about how she’s been kicked out of her home. I don’t know what sort of ship you run here in London, but I intend to find out.”

With that the door shut behind the formidable older woman and Emma vowed to never cross Granny. Ever.

-x-x-x-

“Emma, Emma,” Emma woke to someone gently shaking her shoulder.

“Wha?” Emma said blearily, trying to focus on the sleep blurred face of Granny while not disturbing Splotch who she could feel was on her head.

“It’s all taken care of.” When Emma just kept blinking at her, Granny elaborated, “That group home you were assigned to hadn’t even reported that you’d run away and not come home the last few nights. Additionally, when questioned about the special circumstance paperwork in your file regarding your cat, it turned out the bloody woman hadn’t even read it.”

“I thought so,” Emma grumbled. “What’s the point of having McGonagall put that in there if no one reads it?”

“Well, they’ve read it now,” Granny looked grimly satisfied with herself. “That home is being re-evaluated and an extra person assigned to it. Meanwhile, you’ll be set up at different house—” Emma opened her mouth to say something, not even sure what that would be, but Granny cut her off, “one that already has a cat so there shouldn’t be any problem. I’ll be going along to the new place with your new social worker, seeing as your old one is in hot water right now. I mean, honestly, not even making sure you got into the place before high-tailing it out of there? What an imbecile.”

“Really?” No one had ever done so much for her. It felt like being told she was a witch all over again—the first time someone had looked at her and seen value instead of a burden. Splotch seemed to know what to do though. She had woken up while Granny spoke and, after putting a back paw into Emma’s ear, jumped onto the older woman, purring up a storm.

“’Course,” Granny said gruffly, barely twitching as she reached a hand up to scratch Splotch’s ears. Emma slowly straightened from her huddled position in the chair, wincing as she rubbed at the line the chair arm had pressed into her own arm. “Can’t trust these people to tell their head from their arse at the rate they’ve been going at.”

“Thank you, Granny,” Emma said before wrapping her arms around the older woman in a tight hug.

Granny stiffened slightly in surprise before she smiled warmly down at the girl, even though Emma couldn’t see it, and wrapped an arm around her back. “You’re welcome.”


	7. Reputation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Regina - Year 3  
> Emma - Year 2

Regina was leaving her transfiguration class when an older Gryffindor student she didn’t recognize jogged up to her, “Hey, are you the potions girl?”

Regina blinked at the boy, but didn’t slow down as she continued down the hallway, “Um, excuse me?” What was this guy was going on about? Did he think she was someone he had a potions project with?

“No, really.” He put his hand on her arm and she stopped, glaring at him. He let go immediately and tried for a smile, “Regina Navar, right?”

Now Regina frowned, it seemed he was looking for her after all, “Yes, that’s my name.” She narrowed her eyes suspiciously, “Do I know you?” She was fairly certain she didn’t, but he looked vaguely familiar.

“No,” he shook his head, his hair flying a bit with the motion, “But I’ve got a younger brother in Ravenclaw. Adrian Choi? I’m Lance.”

Regina did know Adrian since he was her year, but what did that have to do with his brother. She was not following what Lance was after, “Okay, and…?”

“He said you’re the best with potions,” Lance replied earnestly, as if that explained everything.

Regina just looked at him, completely bewildered. “Maybe… But I don’t think I can tutor someone a year ahead of me though.” She’d tutored Adrian for the end of last year for a bit, he was mostly having trouble measuring correctly. After she’d taught him the best techniques and tricks, she hadn’t even needed to tutor him this year.

“Oh, no,” Lance waved his hands. “I don’t want you to tutor me.”

Regina let out a small sigh of relief until Lance continued, “I was hoping you could make me a potion?”

Of everything she’d expected him to say, that wasn’t it. “I’m sorry?”

“Yeah,” Lance shifted his weight from foot to foot, and leaned in to say a bit more quietly, “I’ve got a big presentation in arithmancy tomorrow and I’m a mess.” He wrung his hands together, “Do you have something for nerves? Adrian said you help out a Quidditch guy with that.”

Regina narrowed her eyes, seemed like Adrian had said a lot. He was friends with Hector though so he would know. “First of all, I’m gonna have to talk to Adrian about telling you that.”  

Technically, taking a nerve-calming potion, a minor one like she gave Hector, wasn’t against the rules—but it wasn’t exactly expressly allowed either. Accepted rules said _significant_ mood altering potions, whether for nerves or aggression or luck, weren’t allowed, but minor ones were—the problem was that everyone seemed to disagree on where that line was drawn though. Ravenclaw didn’t feel like bringing it to anyone’s attention, even if they were fairly certain the potion didn’t cross the line.

“Second of all, I occasionally, do favors for friends,” she said, continuing despite the look on his face that said he hadn’t mentioned to his brother he was going to approach Regina. “And even if you’re Adrian’s brother, I don’t actually know you.” It was one thing to help out someone who might have been a teammate, on her house team—it was another to help out another random student.

“So why should I?” she ended bluntly, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh!” Lance’s eyebrows went up as if she should have known the answer, “because I’ll pay you.” He smacked his forehead lightly, “Sorry, I should have started with that.”

“Pay me?” No one had ever paid her for a potion, normally she just traded favors or even just made something for a friend because they asked and it was nice to have her skills appreciated.

“Why would you want _me_ to make you a calming potion? You could just buy one from an actual potions shop,” she pointed out.

“Well yeah, but not by tomorrow morning,” Lance replied earnestly. “I didn’t know I would get so freaked out about this presentation.”

“Why do you trust me to make you a potion?” Regina felt herself falling back on suspicion, did he know he wasn’t allowed to take one for this? Was he trying to get around getting in trouble? Nerve-calmers were again, not expressly forbidden if they were minor enough. Certain brands were forbidden, but not usually home-brews, especially since students were just as liable to mess them up as they were to get them right, if not more so. Which led to her other question, “I could accidently poison you or something.”

“Not very good poison-er if I have to ask you to make it, are you?” he replied with a cheeky grin. When she just frowned and tapped her toe, he became a bit more serious, “No, come on, I trust my brother and he thinks you’re really good.” He held his hands up as if to say “so there you go”. “That’s all I need, even with your—look, are you interested or not?” he ran his fingers through his hair and finally began to look frustrated with her questions.

Even with her what? Regina wondered, but didn’t ask. Her mind went to her mother’s reputation, even if that probably wasn’t fair. The Choi’s were halfbloods, if she recalled correctly, so he might know about the tales of what happened to those who oppose Cora Navar.

Regardless, now she could actually see that he was looking pale and sweaty, under his casual attitude. He must really be worried about his project. Regina regarded him carefully before saying slowly, “I suppose, if you really want me to, we could talk price.

Regina was already calculating what to ask for when Lance spoke up, “How about three galleons.”

Regina was a bit taken aback and she knew it showed. That was fairly close to what she thought was reasonable but was unsure he would agree. Sometimes people didn’t value potion-making and effort that went into it—for all they loved to complain about how hard the class was. She gathered herself, “Three galleons, 5 sickles.”

Lance looked extremely relieved and stuck out his hand, “Done.”

She shook it, noting the clammy feeling and vowing to whip her hand off on her robes once they were done talking. “I’ll bring it to dinner tonight, you’re lucky it doesn’t need to sit overnight. Now remember, it’s nothing too strong, mostly to help ease anxiety at the start and get you going.”

“Perfect, thanks!” he began to walk away, as if him staying any longer than necessary might make her re-think brewing it. “See you in the Great Hall for dinner!”

-x-x-x-

After that, another Gryffindor in her own year, Marion, asked if she could make her a headache potion—one that wasn’t the standard as she was allergic to lavender.

This was followed by a few others their year asking for simple potions—ones she’d made for friends before—Nerve Steadying, Wideye, Dreamless sleep. All who’d asked were willing to pay—although some fought her on her prices more than others.

It wasn’t until a third student, a fifth year Ravenclaw, approached Regina in front of her friend, six students total had asked her over the past month besides Lance and Marion, that Kathryn decided to say something. “So,” she said, giving Regina a significant look.

“So….?” Regina asked, confused and half-focused on trying to remember how much Wideye she had left; it needed to sit for 14 hours so it could take awhile to brew and it was only good for about a month before it started to degrade and have side-effects. She should make some more, even if she had enough for Delia right now.

“So, are you like, Hogwarts new premier potions dealer or what?”

Regina looked up, “What do you mean? It’s only been a few people and I’d hardly call Wideye a ‘premier’ potion.”

Kathryn folded her arms and gave Regina a look, “Regina, how many Galleons have you made off this?”

“I’m not sure, and I’d have to subtract the money I spent on ingredients…” Kathryn gave her a look and she sighed, “rough estimate? I don’t know, like 10 to 15 galleons.”

“That’s nice, I’d love some extra pocket money.”

Regina gave her a look, “You could just write home if you needed more pocket money.”

“Okay, fine,” Kathryn admitted, even as she persisted, “but its brilliant that you made the money yourself. No gave it to you—you earned it.”

Regina flushed but nodded, “It is, isn’t?”

“Do you think you’d want to be a potioneer?” Kathryn asked, curious.

“Like as a career?” Regina looked startled. She wrung her hands, “Mother wants me to work at the Ministry.”

Kathryn nodded because she was fairly certain that’s what her parents expected to, “Well forget about that. Would you be a potioneer if you could? I mean, Gold loves you, says you’re the best student he’s had in forever. You seem to like tutoring for it too.”

Regina flushed at the indirect praise from Gold and nodded, “I do, I suppose it might be nice—I’ve never really thought about it to be honest. Never saw much point in thinking about it, really.” No point in presuming she could control her own future like that, it was nice enough that she was in Ravenclaw where she had some freedom. After Quidditch, she’d focused on just not acting like Mother since she’d never actually be able to do what she wanted. Still, it was a nice thought. “It is nice to have people asking and paying me to make potions.”

“You should think about trying to do it more,” Kathryn pressed.

“More? Put up adverts and such?” Regina joked.

Kathryn rolled her eyes, “Well no, but it’d be nice if the Hogwarts gossip circuit kept spreading the word. We could get some nice stuff next Hogsmeade visit—you could treat me and Abby.”

Regina laughed, “I see what this is about, you just want the benefits without having to actually put in the work.”

“You caught me,” Kathryn replied, feigning dismay. “Oh, speaking of school gossip, did you hear about Mal Drake?”

“No, what happened?” Regina replied, Kathryn always knew what was going on because her sister always did. The conversation moved on to other topics, but part of it stayed with Regina.

When she was in bed that night, staring at her canopy, she found herself thinking about being a potioneer. She actually really did like the idea. It would never happen, but maybe she could try out that dream here at Hogwarts, before she had to live in the real world where her Mother would dictate what she should do, even if not how she would go about her life.

A potioneer.

If Regina wanted to do that here at Hogwarts, she’d need to stop trying to brew things in her cramped dorm room, or abandoned girls’ toilets, or free potions classrooms. And she’d need to come up with a list of potions she would be willing to make and standard prices. She’d probably also need to start ordering ingredients in larger quantities.

She eventually drifted off to sleep, mind still whirling with new plans.

-x-x-x-

Regina hung back after her potions class two days later, approaching Gold’s desk. “Professor Gold?”

Gold looked up from the potion’s he was checking on his desk, making sure all were labeled properly. He turned with a smile, “Yes, Miss Navar, what can I do for you?”

Regina forced her hands to be still as she asked, “I was wondering if I could book a dungeon slot regularly? I don’t like having my tutoring sessions at different times all the different days.” This was true, it was annoying having her sessions on Monday at 3:30, Wednesday’s at 6:00 and Saturday’s at 10:00. However, her real reason for asking to permanently book a time slot on one of the potion practice dungeons, was to have a better place to brew potions to sell. If she wanted to brew more often, she needed a good place to do so.

Gold surveyed her shrewdly, “I see.” He steepled his fingers together, thinking her request over.

“You also don’t have students every day,” he pointed out. “Permanent bookings tend to be for older tutors with a fuller roster than you or those working on NEWT projects.”

Luckily, Regina had expected this question, she just hoped he was satisfied with her answer. “I know, but I wouldn’t mind taking on an additional student for tutoring, if I could schedule my time more effectively.” She could see he was considering it, but she would bet anything he would object to that argument by saying that there was a reason third years didn’t tutor four students as he had explained when she first started tutoring. Therefore, Regina immediately lead into her next argument, “Also, I was hoping that I could try to brew some of the potions we don’t cover in class, on the days I don’t have a student I mean.”

“Really?” That caught his attention. She knew Gold was pleased with her skill and progress, but what he seemed to appreciate most was that she genuinely enjoyed potions when most people didn’t. “Which potions were you considering?”

“Giddiness Elixir to start with since it would be the easiest to determine if I brewed it correctly,” Regina really did want to try out some new potions, so it wasn’t even a lie. “Then I was going to try the Hair-Raising and the Hair-Flattening potions because I wanted to practice more potions in pairs with similar or antithetical properties.”

“A very clever strategy,” Gold approved with a tilt of his head. “In _Effective Affects_ , which you can find in the library, there is a Disheartening Draught which you could attempt along with the Giddiness Elixer. It’s a little more challenging, but well within your ability I believe.”

Regina blushed slightly, as she always did when he complimented her, “Thank you, Professor. I hadn’t heard of that book, I’ll check it out of the library this evening.” She was always looking for more potions books, when she caught what his sentence implied.

“Does that mean you’ll book me a permanent time and room?” she asked hopefully.

“Yes, I shall.” Gold said, a twinkle in his eye at her obvious excitement. “Let me see which dungeon would be most suitable.” He reached into one of his desk drawers and drew out a large ledger which she knew contained the dungeon schedules, updating itself from the posted schedules outside the rooms.

“Ah yes, Greybeard’s room is free from four to six, how does that sound? It’s free for bookings for a couple slots, so let me know if you need to leave anything on the flame after your slot.”

It was a smaller room, but definitely something she could work with; a good time slot too. “Understood. Thank you very much, professor, for granting me the space.”

“You’re most welcome, Miss Navar.” He gave her one of his signature looks, the ones that always seemed to suggest he could see right through, “I know you Whale put that room to good use.”

-x-x-x-

The downside of her growing reputation as someone who would make potions if asked showed itself about three weeks later.

Regina was on her way to the third-year dorms when the door to one of the fifth-years’ dorm opened up and someone stepped into the doorway, “Regina Navar?”

Regina looked over to see a boy with dark hair leaning against the doorjamb. “Yes?”

“You make people potions, right?” he asked with enough arrogance in his tone to make Regina wary.

She narrowed her eyes a bit, now she recognized him—Victor Whale, reputation for being interested in necromancy and medical magic, in a creepy experiment sort of way. “Sometimes,” she allowed. “And for a price.”

“I need you to make me an invisibility potion.”

“Why?” Regina asked, not even bothering to hide the suspicion in her voice.

“My reasons are my own,” he said, drawing himself up. “I’ll give you four galleons and the demiguise hair you’d need for it.”

Regina did not like this boy’s attitude, “If you already have the hair, why not just make it yourself?”

“Because I’m asking you,” Whale replied, but his flush gave away the fact that he most likely didn’t have the skill to brew it. “Now, how long will it take?”

“I don’t think I will brew it for you,” Regina said, crossing her arms. “Four galleons barely covers the price of the other ingredients, its not one I’ve ever even brewed before, and you haven’t told me what you want it for. I’m not helping you sneak around without knowing why.”

Whale rolled his eyes, “Geez, fine. Five galleons then. I won’t go any higher.”

Regina scowled and opened her mouth to explain she wasn’t haggling with him, when another boy came down behind her and brushed past her into the dorm room, giving her a side-eye look.

“Hey Preston,” Whale said turning away from Regina completely, “Do you know what the Runes homework was?” He glanced back over his shoulder at her long enough to say, “Come back to me when you need the demiguise hair—and don’t take too long.”

Regina’s frowned deepened but before she could react he’d shut the door in her face.

Regina stared at the door in surprise and anger, the nerve… Then she shrugged, oh well, he’d be waiting for his potion for a long time. She walked away with a smirk.

However, a few days later, Whale came up to her at lunch, “Hey, Navar, where’s my potion? What’s taking so long?”

Regina looked up from the book she was reading and gave him a cool look, “Actually if you remember correctly, the last thing I said to you was that I would not be making you a potion.”

She turned to go back to her book only for Whale to grab it and force it down. “And I told you take make it away.”

Regina simply looked at him, “No.”

“It would be a very bad idea, not to listen to me, Navar,” Whale said, leaning close, his voice filled with suggested threat.

Regina refused to be intimidated, “It seems to me, that it would be a very bad idea to make it. Your inability to take ‘no’ for an answer doesn’t seem to me to be persuasive evidence to make you an invisibility potion.” She then wrenched her book from his hand and stood up.

Whale tried to use his superior height to intimidate her, “It doesn’t matter what I do with the potion, what matters is what I do to you if you don’t make it.”

“And what would that be?”

His face contorted in rage before it smoothed out, which caused her to feel the first pang of fear, “You have an owl, don’t you?” he asked, his voice lowered so the students around them no doubt trying to listen couldn’t hear.

Regina bristled, this couldn’t be going anywhere good, “What does that have to do with anything?”

“I was just thinking about how if I can’t do what I need to do with an invisibility potion, perhaps I’d practice some other spellwork.” His smirk deepened and he crossed his arms, “I’ve been meaning to work on my aim with _Confringo_. I wonder where I can find a good, challenging target.”

Regina’s blood ran cold with anger at the threat to Isimud, her owl. She stared hard into his eyes, did he mean it? “I suppose, if you’re so desperate for this potion, I could oblige. I’ll take the demiguise hair and the payment upfront though.” She could barely keep from punching him in his smug face like a muggle brawler.

“I knew you’d see it my way,” Whale replied triumphantly. “Here you go. Do hurry or I’ll find myself bored waiting.”

“You’ll have it in two days,” Regina replied, her voice abrupt as her hand closed around the small pouch he handed her. She stalked off, hitting into him as she left, her face slowly turning red from rage and embarrassment. He thought he could bully and threaten her into doing what he wanted? He thought he could threaten her owl? No. Regina put up with enough that from her mother, no way in hell was someone here going to do that. He was going to regret ever asking for her help.

-x-x-x-

Regina brewed the potion with a fury, concocting it perfectly to do what she wanted it to. When she handed it to him in the common room a few days later, she let her fury show, but not her satisfaction. The grey bubbling potion looked like a standard invisibility potion, and she did a very good job for a first try, if she did say so herself. And it would make him invisible, just not for the hour she told him and the side effects…well he hadn’t asked about those.

Evidently it took him a few days to use it, but she was content to wait, and oh, how satisfying was it when her wait bore fruit.

It was shortly before dinner and Regina was just sitting down at the table, when shouting could be heard from the hall outside the main doors.

Soon enough a figure burst into the room, surrounded by a murder of crows who were alternatively diving and urging him forward in the direction of the head table where a majority of the professors had already gathered for the meal. An extremely angry girl in rumbled Slytherin robes stalked in after him, “That’s right, march!” She followed at a slower pace, occasionally using her wand to direct the crows she’d summoned in their harassment.

It took a few moments in the chaos of the scene for people to notice the other strange thing about the boy, who Regina knew to be Whale. When they reached the head table, the girl—Elizabeth, if Regina was correct—called off her crows but did not send them away as Whale panted and kept his hands up in self-defense.

Flitwick had been closest and he looked directly at Whale from the steps of the dais, a frown on his face, “What on earth is going on? And why are you so colorful, Mr. Whale?”

Whale was indeed a riot of color. From his now pink hair, all the way down to his blue legs, he looked as though a paint set had exploded on him. This was especially obvious seeing as he was only in his pants and vest. Regina smirked as she moved closer, he had evidently figured out that the potion only made his body invisible. She’d guess he wasn’t good at disillusionment charms which would be why he’d asked for the potion. It seems that instead of working the spell on an entire outfit, he’d simply only worn what he felt he needed to so he didn’t have to cast the spell over much.

Gold came over with a curious expression on his face as he took the boy in before he turned to Elizabeth with a raised eyebrow. Elizabeth answered the unspoken question from her Head of House, “I found him in my dorm room! I’d come back from practice to change. I’d thought I was being watched, but figured I was imagining it. Luckily, it was very soon after I’d come in that his invisibility suddenly failed.”

Regina had never been particularly afraid of Flitwick, the look on his face now reminded her he was a renowned dueling champion, “Is this true, Mr. Whale? Did you use an invisibility potion to sneak into the Slytherin girls’ dormitory to spy on Miss Lavenza?”

“I…it wasn’t supposed to…” Whale sputtered, it was impossible to tell if his face was red, due to the pink and green splotches that covered it, but Regina would have bet that it was. “It was just a joke!”

“I fail to see the humor in this situation,” Gold said coldly.

Whale’s eyes darted around wildly for a sympathetic face and his eyes landed on Regina in the crowd. Rage filled his eyes and he lunged for her, “You bitch! What did you do?!”

Regina drew her wand and backed away, but before he could get any closer a nonverbal immobilization spell from Flitwick had him frozen where he stood.

Gold peered around the stationary Whale to look at Regina, who was now standing by herself as everyone around her had backed up. “Miss Navar, why does Mr. Whale seemed to think you have something to do with this?”

Regina reluctantly walked over to the professors and Elizabeth, “Whale came to me a week ago, asking me to make him an invisibility potion.” When Elizabeth looked confused and started to eye her suspiciously, Regina clarified, “I’m fairly good at potions or perhaps he didn’t know anyone else to ask.” She shrugged, “I don’t know. But when I asked him why he wanted one, he refused to tell me, so I refused to make it.”

Flitwick looked at her and made a prompting gesture with his hands, “You changed your mind?”

“He threatened to blast my owl,” her voice hardened briefly and she saw Elizabeth lose some of the anger she was beginning to direct at Regina. “So yes, I agreed to make an invisibility potion with the demiguise hair he provided. I simply brewed one that only lasted for a short time and had a few side effects I couldn’t seem to be able to fix,” Regina explained blandly. “They truly are spectacular,” she said, eyeing the colors covering the other Ravenclaw.

“I see,” Gold replied, now his voice was amused. “An impressive adaptation. How many different wildflower petals did you use, Miss Navar?”

“A number of them, I’m afraid I lost count, Professor.”

“Twenty points to Ravenclaw for such an impressive potion,” Mr. Gold said, “Provided you give me your recipe.”

Regina smiled at the confirmation she wasn’t in trouble and nodded, “Of course.”

“Yes,” Flitwick said smiling at Regina before turning to Elizabeth, “And twenty points to Slytherin for magnificent use of _Avis_ , Miss Lavenza.” Then he turned to Whale, “As for you Mr. Whale, fifty points from Ravenclaw for your activities.”

“In fact, coupled with the fact that I’m aware the Professor Lucas’ has reported the theft of demiguise hair recently and such blatant disregard for school rules and student privacy, I believe we need to discuss possible suspension, depending on how Miss Lavenza would like to proceed. Both of you can come with me as Professor Gold and I notify your parents.”

Elizabeth moved to talk with them more quietly and Regina looked back at Whale. His eyes had widened in disbelief at Flitwick’s decision before narrowing in anger as he glared at Regina. She was glad he couldn’t move right now. Still, satisfaction flowed through her as she leaned towards him to say, “You should have just accepted it when I said ‘no’ the first time.”

Regina leaned back with a smirk, before she looked over the Flitwick and caught his eye. He nodded that she could return to her friends at the Ravenclaw table. Students whispered as she walked away, but at least this time, she _knew_ they were talking about what she had done, not rumors or what her mother had done—just her own actions. She smiled.


	8. The White Heir

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Emma - Year 2  
> Regina - Year 3

“Who doesn’t know aconite and monkshood are the same thing as wolfsbane? Honestly, I don’t know why they bother letting muggleborn in here,” Sidney Glass, a Ravenclaw, was saying as they left potions class.

David flushed bright red and looked down at his feet, remembering what had happened in class earlier when Gold admonished him. Emma felt a rush of anger roll through her, _what an insufferable prick_. Bad enough that Gold had singled him out like that when David had gone to him to ask where to find aconite. Emma wasn’t going to let anyone else make her friend feel like crap. Also, all that muggleborn versus pure blood crap just reminded her of how people like to treat foster kids, as if their birth made them lesser.

“I don’t know why they let vain morons into Hogwarts,” she said, loud enough for most of the other third years to hear. “All they manage to do is cast are over done attraction charms and end up spending all day mesmerized by their own reflection.”

Sidney whipped around as soon as Emma started to talk and went nearly purple with rage as a number of the other Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws laughed. He walked up to Emma and shook his finger in her face, “If I want your opinion, mudblood, I’ll ask for it.”

Instantly, Emma’s wand was in her hand and as were the wands of two or three other ‘Puffs along with some Ravenclaws as well, “What did you just say?”

“Mud in your ears?” Sidney said with a smirk, clearly proud of himself. “I don’t know why they scrape the bottom of the barrel, letting useless wizards like you and your friend even come here—you clearly have no idea what your doing. All that it does is make Professors waste their time fixing your dumb mistakes instead of teaching the rest of us who are actually competent.”

“I’m not sure I’d call accidently causing your partner’s arms to dance instead of their feet and resulting in them punching you in the face counts “competent”,” Belle French, a different Ravenclaw from their year said with a falsely thoughtful look on her face. Emma hadn’t even noticed her moving to stand beside Emma and her friends.

Emma laughed and smiled at Belle, who she often paired up with in class since mary Margaret and David liked to work together. She was quiet, but always very nice. This was probably the meanest thing Emma had ever heard the other girl say. Emma turned back to Sidney, “Yeah, so maybe you should just keep your big mouth shut, Glass.”

“I’ll show you,” Sidney finally drew his own wand and pointed it at Emma. “Do you even know how to duel properly?” Emma raised her wand as most of their classmates backed away, but flushed since he was right. He seemed to know it too. “I didn’t think so—like I said, muggleborns don’t know how to do anything.”

That’s when Mary Margaret, who’d been standing nearby unable to find an opportunity to cut it, finally did so. “Emma isn’t even muggleborn! She’s a White, so her lineage is far more pure than yours is!”

That got everyone’s attention and they all stared at Mary Margaret in surprise. “What?” Sidney asked, too surprised to say anything else.

Mary Margaret crossed her arms over her chest and stuck her chin out, “I said Emma’s Snow and David White’s daughter, so she isn’t a muggleborn—she’s a pureblood. That was what you’re saying doesn’t even make any sense.” She nodded as if she’d delivered an irrefutable argument.

In a way she had, but Emma just stared at her in horror and blurted out, “MM! That was supposed to be a secret!”

After that, the other students devolved into loud arguing and questions. Emma tried to tell them all to leave her alone before she resorted to running away for the Hufflepuff dorms in the confusion.

It took another twenty mins for Mary Margaret get back to the dorms. “Oh, Emma, there you are.”

“Yup,” Emma said flatly, annoyed Mary Margaret had found her so quickly even if the dorm they shared wasn’t exactly the best hiding place.

“Where’d you go? Everyone wants to talk to you,” Mary Margaret sounded particularly cheerful but also confused by Emma lack of excitement.

Emma finally sat up further and glared at the other girl, “How could you tell everyone?!”

Mary Margaret looked taken aback, “What do you mean? I got Sidney to stop saying all those mean things. He was wrong.”

“He was, but you saying that didn’t—and—you can’t—why did—?” Emma made a wordless noise of frustration. “How can you not get what you did?”

Mary Margaret continued to stare at her in complete confusion. She came closer and sat down on the edge of Emma’s bed. “I don’t understand. Are you mad at me?”

Emma wanted to scream. “Yes! I told you not to tell anyone about my parents and you promised.” Mary Margaret had only found out because she’d seen Emma looking at the photos Ruby had leant her. A number of them were labeled with names and dates. Snow wasn’t exactly a common first name, even in the wizarding world. Still, Emma had trusted Mary Margaret enough to explain and she’d promised not to tell. Emma had believed her. _How could she have just told everyone?_

Mary Margaret shifted a little uncomfortably and pouted, “Yeah, I know. Sorry, but I just wanted to prove Sidney wrong!” she finished passionately. Then she made a dismissive hand gesture, “It’s not like it was a big secret.”

Emma couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Yes it was!” Mary Margaret didn’t just get to decide if Emma’s secret was a big deal or not.

Mary Margaret gave a little sigh, like Emma was the one being unreasonable. “I don’t know why you didn’t tell anyone about them anyways. It’s not like anything bad will happen. Your parents were heroes! Everyone’s gonna think you’re so cool!” She was back to being excited, bouncing a little in her seat.

Emma couldn’t believe what she was hearing, but she knew she didn’t need to hear anymore. Was Mary Margaret even her real friend? How could she be if she couldn’t even listen to Emma? “You just don’t get it! Go away!”

“But—” Mary Margaret tried to say.

“Go!” Emma turned over and flopped down on her stomach, pulling her pillow over her head. Mary Margaret tried to get her attention for a little while longer, but eventually gave up and left. Emma was just glad that the other girl hadn’t noticed she was crying.

-x-x-x-

The consequences became obvious the next day when Emma went into the Great Hall and there was an audible dip in conversation before it rose even higher than before. Emma turned red and nearly walked right back out. Only the smell of the food already laid out kept her in the room. Still, she was very aware of the eyes following her as she took her seat.

It was extremely uncomfortable to have so much attention focused on her and it didn’t seem to be getting any better as the days passed. Even the teachers were part of it. McGonagall obviously knew and so did Professor Sprout since she was Emma’s head of house, but the others hadn’t known. Her Astronomy professor had called her “Emma White” at least three times since the truth came out. Gold had done it once as well and he kept giving her assessing looks that she did not appreciate.

Ruby was acting the same at least and David didn’t really understand the gravity of the revelation. Mary Margaret continued to not understand why it was a big deal that she even revealed the secret and therefore Emma continued to give her the cold shoulder—it was just hard since they had all of the same friends so she couldn’t avoid her.

However, at least when they would go to visit Ruby’s grandmother, that was just the two of them. Ruby and Emma were walking around one of the outer corridors on their way to see Professor Lu—Granny, Emma was supposed to be calling her ‘Granny’ according to the woman herself last visit.

A Gryffindor first year Emma had never met before came up to Emma and tugged on her robes to get her attention, “Is it true your mum could take out three wizards in ten seconds with her long-distance stunners?”

Then the Slytherin boy who’d come over with her and looked similar enough that they might be siblings chimed in, “I heard your dad could disarm someone so hard that their wand would fly ten meters when hit.”

Both of them were very excited and looked questioningly at her, as if expecting her to know. “Uh, I don’t know.”

The girl pouted, “Come on, you can tell us!”

The boy turned to Ruby, who’s eyes widened at suddenly being roped into the conversation. “Your mum knew them too, right? You must know, right?”

Panic filled her eyes, “Uh… Yeah, yup. Those things you said are true.”

Both siblings turned excited eyes to Emma, who just stared at them until Ruby elbowed her and she felt herself start to nod, “Yup, totally true, what you said. Yes.”

“I knew it!” the girl said and high fived her brother before they ran off.

“What the bloody hell was that?” Emma said, staring after them.

“No idea,” Ruby replied, doing the same.

“Let’s leave before they come back.”

“Agreed.”

-x-x-x-

Emma was talking to her friends before History of Magic when someone tapped on her shoulder. Emma turned around to see a girl a year or two older than her that she didn’t standing there. Before Emma could say anything, the evidently nervous girl blurted out, “I just wanted to say thanks, your parents saved my aunt’s life.”

“Oh, uh, yeah. I’m glad,” Emma said, at a complete loss for words. Why was she thanking Emma for something she had nothing to do with? Then the girl actually reached forward and gave Emma a hug. Emma froze completely and didn’t move until the girl left go. Her face was rather red as she ran off.

Emma continued to stand perfectly still as she lifted her eyes to meet her friends. Mary Margaret was beaming, David looked as awkward as she felt, and Ruby had brought up her hand to cover her face. Emma wished it was acceptable to walk around school with her invisibility cloak on over her head.

After that, Emma had started to wait outside classes in corners, since people seemingly loved to ambush her before class. She hated that people would just come up to her and start talking to her now. She’d like blending in at Hogwarts and being normal. Now it was like she had a big flashing sign over her head again. Even if it wasn’t as embarrassing as the ‘foster child’ sign she used to feel like she had hanging over her, it was still enough to make her extremely uncomfortable.

It didn’t seem to be working very well.

Emma was waiting near an alcove outside of the Charms classroom as Professor Flitwick was busy cleaning up the results of the sixth years practice of _Avis_ , the bird conjuring spell. A student came out of the classroom, he barely looked at the other second years waiting to go to class when his eyes passed over her. A frown grew on his face and he changed his path to make a beeline for her.

By the time the Slytherin reached her, he looked angry. “I suppose you’re getting a swelled head, aren’t you, White?” Emma didn’t even bother trying to correct him, she was so tired of it. Besides, he didn’t really look like he wanted any actual input from her. “Well, I know the truth: your parents weren’t anything special. If they were my dad would still be alive. They were morons, going into that fight without a plan.”

“Okay,” Emma replied, her now standard response to anyone who tried to talk to her about her parents.

This seem to anger the kid and he shook his finger in her face, “I knew you’d be just like them.” He made a disgusted noise and spat at her feet.

“Thanks, see you around,” Emma said wearily, waving at the kid’s back as he stomped off.

“How many people have called you “Emma White” since Mary Margaret told everyone?” Mulan Fa asked who was standing nearby staring after the kid.

Emma looked at Mulan in surprise. They frequently paired up during classes Hufflepuffs and Slytherin’s shared, but didn’t talk much outside of class. Mulan had never been one to start the conversation even in class. Emma did appreciate that someone else had noticed the name thing and that the other girl had correctly identified Mary Margaret as the one who spilled the beans. “Too many. Some of the professors have done it too.” At least Flitwick hadn’t, so Charms should be okay.

“Idiots,” Mulan said plainly. “You’ve never called yourself anything but ‘Emma Swan’. They’re probably the same ones who ask where I’m from since my name is so Chinese  or why I don’t have a normal name if I am from here.”

“Thanks, Mulan,” Emma smiled, glad Mulan seemed to actually understand. “Those guys are morons too.”

“I know,” Mulan nodded and that was that, but Emma felt better knowing Mulan seemed to actually be her friend, not just a convenient partner.

-x-x-x-

Emma, David, and Ruby were waiting for Mary Margaret outside the Frog Choir practice room before going to study outside by the lake. Emma was antsy to get outside, she wanted to finish studying so they could see if there were Hufflepuff brooms free to borrow. Her, David and Ruby all wanted to try out for their quidditch teams. David was pretty rubbish, but Ruby might make chaser. Mary Margaret liked to watch—well, mostly she was convinced they were all going to crash and would run around with bandages underneath them.

If they got out there too late, they wouldn’t be able to finish in time to get brooms because everyone else would have already checked them out. Luckily, practice ended just as Emma started to shake her leg in anticipation.

Mary Margaret took her sweet time coming out though and it was almost a full five minutes later that she strolled out with an older Slytherin girl who seemed to be giving her tips.

Emma rolled her eyes, why did their magical school even have a choir? As far as she knew they didn’t do spells or tricks or anything, just sing.

Ruby wrapped an arm around Emma’s shoulders, “Relax, Swan. We’ve got plenty of time, don’t have a manticore.”

“What’s a manticore?” David asked, sounding both curious and like he wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer.

Mary Margaret joined them just as Ruby was saying, “…rip your head off. Oh, hi MM. Ready to go?”

“I don’t even want to know what you’re talking about,” Mary Margaret said with a head shake. “Yeah I’m ready.” Emma jumped down from the alcove she’d been sitting in and they all started off down the hallway. “Liza was just telling me about some exercises she does to keep her voice limber,” Mary Margaret said enthusiastically.

They’d gotten most of the way towards the stairs when someone called out loudly, “Hey!”

Emma stiffened at the words, sure with a sinking feeling that whoever was speaking, was talking to her given the way her life had been going these last few weeks. Sure enough, what came next was, “You’re the White heir, right?”

Emma let out a loud breath, she was quickly moving from resignation to actual anger. She turned around and faced the tall red headed boy that was apparently speaking to her, “Yeah, what’s it to you?”

“Hey,” the four-year Slytherin put his hands up, “No need to be like that. If anyone’s giving you any trouble, let me know and I’d be glad to help you out.”

Emma raised an eyebrow skeptically, “Really?”

“Of course, we pure bloods need to stick together. Hans Westergaard,” he introduced, inclining his head slightly.

Emma recognized the name—there were an insane number of Westergaard boys and the vast majority ended up in Slytherin. She did not like the way he was talking for all she returned the nod. “It’s Emma Swan, actually, not Emma White. And since I was raised by muggles, I think you’re barking up the wrong tree here.”

Hans gave her a condescending smile, “Come now, sure someone must have explained things. Besides, I heard you grew up a muggle orphan—that means you must know firsthand how awful they can be.”

Emma froze at that, no one had even thought to bring up foster care yeat and she found herself unprepared for its use. “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” she warned. “I know what I mean.”

Hans rolled his eyes, “Look, I know what people must tell you, trash like Lucas over there or muggleborn weaklings,” at that he nodded toward David. “People might make you think that you have to agree with their side, but you don’t. Surely even if the Blanchards have all but dwindled away, she’s told you how the world really works. Mudbloods pretend, but we all know they’ll never be as good as a true wizard. Or witch,” he tacked on at the end, clearly expecting to win extra points with that part.

“Right…” Emma said dubiously. Although truthfully, she’d barely listened after he’d insulted her friends. “Well, if muggleborns really did suck that much, then maybe you wouldn’t be so threatened by them? After all, if your so obviously superior, then who gives a crap about them?”

Hans was frowning now, clearly annoyed she hadn’t already given in and agreed with him, “What they lack in skill, they make up for in numbers. Truly, a disgrace to see so many of them infesting Hogwarts. They try to act like they belong, but they don’t. You must be able to see it.”

“Guess I’m blind then,” Emma gave a careless smile. She remembered how certain people used to treat her, how people still treated David sometimes, like they should be so grateful they were even allowed to be here. She remembered feeling like it might even be true. But as this jerk said all the things she’d thought late at night, anxious and alone, about not belonging, here in the light of day—suddenly they’d never been easier to dismiss.

Because she earned her letter—McGonagall said that was never in question, that she was a witch even if she wasn’t a White. Emma had gotten a wand to work before she even uttered a spell. She gotten onto the Hogwarts Express platform just fine. The Sorting Hat said she belonged too, belonged in Hufflepuff, belonged at Hogwarts. “Because from where I’m standing the only disgrace in this school are people who think like you.”

Hans’ face froze and now it changed eerily. Emma couldn’t explain it, but suddenly she was more afraid of him. “I see you’re not a mudblood, you’re a blood traitor.” Emma did not like how casually the older student was saying these words. Even Sidney had clearly been trying to show off, like saying a swear word to be impressive or cool. Hans meant these slurs. His eyes glittered as he sneered at her, “Worse in my opinion, since mudbloods can’t help what they are, but blood traitors can.”

Emma felt herself tensing and she could feel the few students around her holding their breath, entranced by his words and how careless he was with them. His eyes narrowed and he twirled his wand in his hand, “In fact, I don’t think you deserve your wand any more than mudbloods do.”

That was all the warning Emma got before he suddenly pointed his wand at her and said, “ _Expelliarmus!_ ” Luckily, it was warning enough and Emma instinctively sidestepped to the right, dodging his spell.

A couple of students cried out at the sudden spell, but most just backed off, leaving a large amount of space around Emma and Hans. Emma saw out of the corner of her eye a couple students run off—whether it was to get a teacher for help or just to make sure they didn’t get caught in the crossfire, she didn’t know.

She couldn’t let her attention stray much through as Hans shot another disarming spell at her. She moved left this time and heard a small yelp when the spell hit someone behind her. That made most of the other kids scatter or at least move to the side instead of behind her.

“ _Depulso!_ ” She jumped back from the banishing charm and it hit the ground, throwing up little rocks and a lot of dirt and dust. She risked a quick glance back where her friends had been and saw they’d move to the left so they were out of the line of fire. Also, David and Mary Margaret were physically holding Ruby back, each with a gripe on to an arm as Ruby tried to move towards Emma.

“You can’t just go around attacking anyone who doesn’t agree with you!” Emma cried in frustration across the dusty hallway. “Just because we go to school in a bloody castle, doesn’t mean this is actually the middle ages!”

“No traitor brat gets to tell me what to do!” he cried. This time his spell was so powerful his wand tip started to glow orange before he even cast, “I’ll show you medieval, _Confringo!_ ”

Emma didn’t think, she just threw herself far to the right and up onto a pedestal in an alcove with a suit of armor. The blasting curse made a loud bang when it hit where she’d been standing only a few seconds ago. Debris went everywhere and something hard hit Emma’s right arm. She stifled a yelp and panted as she clutched the armored waist of the suit of armor with her other arm. Now she was really angry, one of her friends was going to get hurt. She needed to get Hans to back off.

“Stop hiding like a coward!” he yelled in her general direction, trying to bait her. “Your parents had Gryffindor bravery, what do you have?”

“Oh yeah, and fighting a kid years behind you is so brave,” Emma growled lightly to herself. It was also really annoying was that some jerk was trying to beat her up and still all he could talk about was her birth parents.

She took a deep breath and ran out from behind the suit of armor. “I said, Leave me alone!” She was faster than he expected and his next spell missed. He didn’t turn quickly enough as she moved and so she could take careful aim, “ _Flipendo!_ ”

Her knockback jinx hit Hans squarely in the chest and he flew back a couple meters fall into a group of his unprepared friends. His grip on his wand must not have been very good because fell to the floor and landed on the ground. “Now back the hell off and piss off!”

Before anyone else could say anything, Professor Flitwick pushed through the few spectator students. Evidently the noise from the blasting charm had been heard even in the soundproof music room, “What is going on here?!”

Emma froze at the angry tone in his voice. A quick sweep of the crowd showed shock and that most of the spectators backed away from her and Hans. Emma’s fight or flight response kicked in without her even realizing it. She turned and ran.

-x-x-x-

“Emma, are you okay?!” Mary Margaret called, as she came into the courtyard Emma had run off to an hour ago, followed by David and Ruby.

Emma tried to brush off their concern as they circled her, “I’m fine.” She tried on a weak smile, “Hans has bad aim.”

“He does, but not that bad. Here, I got you a healing potion—for bruises,” Ruby said, handing her a small glass bottle.

Emma took it even as she frowned at Ruby, “I didn’t want to tell Madame Promfrey. Did she just let you take some without wanting to know why?”

Ruby rolled her eyes, “I didn’t ask her, I’m not stupid.”

“Then where’d you get it?” Emma asked, even as she pulled out the stopper and prepared to drink the mildly glowing blue potion.

“I know a girl, she makes stuff like this. Just drink up,” Ruby advised. “Your arm looks terrible.” Emma glanced down at it and grimaced, between the bruising and gash from whatever stone had scrapped it, it did look pretty bad.

“So, how much trouble am I in?” Emma asked, bracing herself for the news now that she’d swallowed the blue liquid. Within a minute, her arm was not quite itching, but pricking like a it had fallen asleep. It was very disconcerting.

“ _You’re_ not,” David said, looking rather satisfied. “Everyone testified that you’d only defended yourself. Plus, _Confringo_ is a year four or five curse, he knows you don’t even know it.”

“Actually, he did ask to pass on a message,” Ruby said, looking like she was bursting with it. “He wanted to personally invite you to join the dueling club.”

“What?”

“Yeah,” Ruby nodded. “He said, lasting against someone three years ahead of you and knocking him back with such a strong jinx means you’re a natural dueler and that if you want to “refine your skills”, you’re welcome.” She looked very impressed and excited, “Cool, huh?”

“Not that I’m sure you’d want to join,” David put in, still eyeing her bruised arm which seemed to be undergoing a time-compressed healing process. It was already the faded yellow of a few days old bruise, but it did not look good. “Seems like it would be kinda painful.”

At that Mary Margaret burst into tears, “I’m so sorry, Emma. I can’t believe he attacked you or said those things. I know you said I shouldn’t have told people and I’m really sorry I didn’t listen. Now you’re hurt and it’s all my fault.”

David awkwardly handed her a tissue and patted her once on her shoulder, “Hey, some of its Hans’ fault.”

“Yeah,” Ruby nodded, but didn’t say anything else, she just looked at Emma to see what she wanted to say.

Emma sighed, trying to ignore the strange fizzing sensation the healing potion was still causing in her arm. “It’s not just Hans, MM. That’s the thing.” She sighed, feeling tired for all she was glad Mary Margaret seemed to finally be feeling bad for what she’d done.

She rubbed her hand over her face before looking back up at the other girl. “It’s the fact that now everyone thinks they know me and they don’t. It’s the fact that five different people called me ‘Emma White’ this week when that’s not my name. Its about the fact that they all expect things of me now.”

Mary Margaret did actually seem to be listening, she had the same look on her face whenever they learned a new charm, slightly open-mouthed understanding. Emma felt a little better, maybe she was finally getting to Mary Margaret. Emma did like Mary Margaret and she didn’t have so many friends she was willing to let even one of them go. Grasping this chance to get her to listen, Emma continued, “And they keep coming up to me and talking about my parents and I don’t have the chance to figure it all out on my own now or at my own pace.”

She leaned back a bit, cradling her arm. “Also, this might come as a surprise,” Emma smiled a bit wryly, but it was also clear what she was saying wasn’t a joke. “But I don’t actually like people constantly wanting to talk to me about my dead parents—it’s kinda a sore subject for me.

Mary Margaret’s eyes got very wide at that and she covered her mouth with her hand, “Oh, I didn’t even—"

“I know you didn’t,” Emma said, cutting her off. She folded her arms across her chest. “That’s the whole point.”

Mary Margaret looked down at thatand Emma kept talking, “I thought about all of this before and decided I didn’t want everyone to know. But you told them anyway. You decided you knew better. And you can’t take that back.”

Mary Margaret flinched at that and Emma saw another couple tears fall from her eyes. It was everything she could do not to cry herself. She wanted to pretend she didn’t care just so they could be friends again, but she knew she needed to hold firm.

Mary Margaret took a minute to pull herself together and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry,” Mary Margaret’s voice was clear and sincere. “Really, Emma. I didn’t think and if I could take it back I would.” Emma felt lighter at that, Mary Margaret hadn’t said that she regretted it until now. The brunette looked her straight in the eyes, “Please Emma, what can I do to make it up to you?”

“Keep my next secret and give me some time.” Then Emma smiled, “And maybe give me some of that fudge your grandad sends you.”

Mary Margaret, Ruby and David all laughed at that. Mary Margaret wiped away her last few tears, “Deal.”


	9. Research Conundrums

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Regina - Year 3  
> Emma - Year 2

Regina frowned her way through dinner until Kathryn and Tina Bell, their Gryffindor friend, finally couldn’t take the silence. Tina blurted out, “Alright Navar, spill. What’s got you so hot and bothered?”

“What? Uh, nothing,” Regina said, pinking slightly.

Abby, Kathryn’s twin sister, gave her a look from the couch opposite them in the library study room they were currently occupying. “Come on, Regina. We’ve been here half an hour and you’re still on the same page.”

Regina looked down at her Transfiguration textbook as if seeing it for the first time. “Oh.” She sighed and closed it, no point in pretending, “Okay, so someone asked me to make them a potion. And no—I won’t tell you who because it’s for a personal reason. I’m just not sure I can help.”

“You really can’t tell?” Tina pouted, she loved gossip of any kind.

“Can you at least tell us what the potions for?” Kathryn asked.

“I guess. She’s having problems with the typical potions for her period. Bad cramps, so much she’s getting nauseas.” The girls exchanged sympathetic looks and nods. “Madame Pomfrey doesn’t have anything beyond the usual potions to offer. Madame Pomfrey said she’d need to get a prescription from her healer in order to give her anything different or stronger.”

“So, why doesn’t she do that?”

“Besides the price?” Regina made a face, “Her parents think she’s exaggerating how bad it is.”

“Urgh, that sucks,” Tina said, falling back against her chair.

“Why don’t the normal potions work?” Abby asked, curious.

“She has a really bad reaction to lavender and that’s the main ingredient in most of them. She asked if I could find any alternatives. She gave me some obscure ones to try but half weren’t real potions—just the kind of hogwash shady peddlers sell—and the others didn’t have much effect.”

“Hm, that does sound like a real challenge,” Abby observed.

“What’s the best you have so far?” Kathryn asked, putting her own study materials aside to give Regina her full attention.

“One of the ones she gave me works, its just very mild. She’d need to drink too much of it to make half the difference of a normal menstrual potion.” Regina ran her fingers through her hair in frustration, “There are a couple ways to boost it by tweaking the ingredients and brew style, but I still don’t think it’d do enough.”

“I can ask my mom if she knows of any good potions,” Kathryn offered.

Abby considered that, “Yeah, she might. Or traditional ones from grandmum at least.”

“Thanks,” Regina said. Then she looked back down at her book and shook her head to refocus. “I really should try reading my transfig text though.”

“I have heard that’s the best way to study,” Tiana said, coming into the room to join her fellow Slytherin Abby on that couch.

Regina rolled her eyes and the others laughed, only to be suddenly shushed by Madame Pince, who always seemed to be walking by at the worst moment.

-x-x-x-

It wasn’t until a few days later in the same study room that they stumbled upon the solution.

Kathryn was wrestling with her _Monster Book of Monsters_ and Tina ended up having to help her calm it, but not before it had torn a sizable clump of hair from her head. Kathryn clutched her head, trying to make sure she wasn’t bleeding as Tina belted the book shut.

“Don’t forget to burn those,” Abby teased, eyes darting to the hair on the table.

Kathryn rolled her eyes, “I don’t think anyone wants to curse me.” Still, she cast a quick fire spell to burn the chunk of hair the book had ripped out.

Regina rolled her eyes at the old superstition of how pieces of hair or nail clippings could be used to cast Dark magic, but Tina suddenly turned to Regina, her finger raised, “Oh! You could try tailoring it.”

Regina furrowed her brow, “What are you talking about?”

“For the period potion,” Tina clarified. “Tailoring it. You know, adding a bit of the person to the potion so that it works better. It’s not just for poisons you know.”

Abby got a thoughtful look on her face, “You’re right. My grandfather would always go on about how much stronger potions used to be when they weren’t being produced in bulk and bought at a shop.”

“I thought people also moved away from the practice because of the danger of someone else having a piece of them and what magic they could do with it,” Regina said, frowning, “I mean, we can joke however we want, but everyone knows there is Dark magic you can do with someone’s hair.”

“Well, in the older days,” Kathryn said, in the same tone she used when she was excited about something they were covering in History of Magic, her favorite subject, “Most potions were brewed at home, so people were making it for themselves. The switch towards specialization of magic on a larger scale lead to shops providing them instead of your family or local expert that you trusted.”

“There were also significant advances in the past few decades, newer potion recipes are more concentrated,” Regina said, thinking about one the books she’d read recently. “If you combined that with the change to shops, I can see why people stopped tailoring. It would be complicated for a shop to obtained say, hair from every customer in advance to build into their brewing. You just can’t do it on a larger scale.”

“But you’re not trying to do it on a large scale,” Tiana reminded her.

Regina nodded slowly, “You’re right.” She drummed her fingers on her book, thinking aloud, “I suppose I could adapt the best substitute potion I have so far and then approach her about tailoring it. I’m not sure she’ll want to.”

“It’s worth a shot though, right?” Tina said, hopefully.

“Right.” This time Regina nodded more decisively and smiled at her friend, “Thanks, Tina.”

-x-x-x-

Tina’s suggestion ended up working rather well. Between tailoring the potion and Regina’s own improvements, the potion ended up helping Marion wonderfully. She even said she wanted order the potion every month. In fact, a couple of other students wanted to set up recurring orders with her: Dru for a similar tailored period potion, Shang for the bruises he got from training too hard, and Eric for his allergies, and other similar cases.

Regina sat down with the new journal she’d bought at Hogsmeade in order to be more organized about this potions selling business. Because that’s what it was and that’s what she wanted to make it: a business.

She’d had to pick up more ingredients while she was there too. Her supplies had not been intended for much more than favors for friends and her own experiments. She needed to figure that out too. She could keep waiting for Hogsmeade weekends to replenish. However, she was liable to run out of something crucial at some point—if not for potions she was selling, then for potions she needed to brew in class.

She knew you could order books from Flourish and Blotts catalogue, perhaps she could do the same with the Apothecary. Regina immediately began composing an inquiry letter about that. Having ingredients sent to her would be the best solution, if Hogwarts security allowed it. She thought she might have heard something about care packages from home being inspected, but she’d never gotten one so she wasn’t sure.

Regina spent the rest of the weekend drawing up a standard listing of potions she would brew, prices for them, and the necessary ingredients for each. She also wrote down customer profiles for any recurring clients and began a sales log, recording all of her sales starting with Lance. Finally, she went to talk to a Slytherin fifth year, Mal Drake, who was known for her ability to keep secrets. Using the encoding spell Mal taught her, Regina was able to disguise all of the information in her ledger so that everyone’s privacy could be kept. She also added Mal to list of customers—she wanted a tailored throat soother due to her overuse of a fire-breathing spell.

-x-x-x-

As the weeks went on, she began spending more time brewing all of her potions for customers than she expected. It started when she ran out of mugwort for the sleeping potions to people had requested and then Marion’s period came earlier than she thought it would. Therefore, she needed more of her potion sooner than expected. Regina hadn’t been able to turn her away. The timing of the upcoming Quidditch match hadn’t help either. All in all, Regina found most of her time consumed with brewing the potions and not with studying.

It finally caught up with her when she looked at her most recent charms grade. The “P” on her quiz stood out at her, accusatory.

Regina swallowed heavily and willed herself not to cry, not while she was still in class. Once she’d escaped to her room though, the tears fell.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

She hit the pillow with her fist. How had she forgotten there was going to be a quiz? And she had fallen behind in the reading too, so her answers to the essay question had been a reach at best. A “P”. She had an “EE” in Charms normally, with occasional Outstandings.

If her mother found out…

No, no—Mother couldn’t find out. Luckily, single quiz grades like this one weren’t sent home, but Regina needed to make sure she pulled her grade up. And she probably needed to stop selling potions.

She hid her face further into her pillow. Regina hated that thought. She loved brewing potions for people, helping them. But the thought of what mother would do if her grades started falling—the boom of her threat from when she was first sorted—terrified her.

Regina just needed to be smarter about the potions, she resolved. She needed to make sure she did all her coursework first, potions second. She could do both, she could. She was a Ravenclaw, she _would_ figure out the best way to do both. Starting with a potions schedule and an intense charms study session to catch up. She would say “no” next time it got this overwhelming. She would find the right balance doing this, she had to.


	10. Blossoming Romance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Emma - Summer before Year 3  
> Regina - Summer before Year 4

Emma was leaning against a tree, her Quidditch book half open besides her, but she was really just relaxing as she looked up at the leaves and sky above her. It was a rare sunny day and she was taking full advantage of that to go to the small park near her house. Luckily, these foster parents didn’t seem to care much where she went, as long as she didn’t cause any trouble they had to hear about—which worked well for her.

Her hand was lightly petting through Splotch’s fur as she turned the pages of her book. She wanted to relax, but she had to balance pushing all the other sounds of the park out of her mind with keeping aware of her surroundings that she didn’t get nailed in the head by a football—like yesterday.

At first, she’d blocked out the raised voices shouting, figuring it was some other kids playing around. The sound of someone running full speed towards her was enough to get her to look up. Sure enough, a brunette girl around her age was running straight for Emma’s tree. Emma closed her book, knowing her magical book cover made the pages seem to be about a muggle topic instead of Quidditch, but not wanting to risk it. Besides, she felt like she might need to move in a hurry.

Emma squinted in the direction the girl had come from and saw a couple of older boys staring at her. they looked very angry, but they were on the other side of the road from the park and held up by traffic. The girl skidded to a halt just in front of Emma’s tree and then cursed when she realized that the tree didn’t have any low enough branches to let her climb.

The girl looked around for somewhere else to lose the teens, not looking scared, just focused, before she spotted Emma. “Hey, are you from around here?”

Emma detected a slight accent, but not enough of one to tell where she might be from. “Not exactly. Why are those guys after you?”

“Made the tall one look stupid in front of his girlfriend,” the girl admitted, looking rather proud of herself.

Emma laughed, “Was it worth it?”

The girl smirked, “Depends on if they catch up to me.”

Emma looked past her again to see the guys running across the street. She made a split-second decision before scrambling to her feet. She opened her bag from Splotch to jump in before she gestured, “This way.”

Emma lead the girl around the tree, making sure the guys saw them and then quickly through some bushes so they ended up going in a wide circle. When they emerged from the underbrush, they were at the other end of the block next to the street, back the way the girl had come just in time to see the boys head deeper into the park.

“Brilliant!” the girl said before she grabbed Emma’s hand and tugged her across the street.

Emma tried to ignore the tingling in her hand from the other girl’s gripe. They both looked back just in time to see the teens emerge and spot them. The girl laughed at the anger on their faces and gave them a cheeky wave before pulling Emma down the street, dodging other pedestrians to help them gain some more ground.

As they ran, Emma recognized one of the side streets. “Here, quick!” Emma hissed, pulling the other girl behind the dumpster and then pulling open a metal door to block the space between the dumpster and the wall. Hopefully, this would work to hide them further from sight and to make their pursuers think they’d gone inside.

Sure enough, a few minutes later the boys almost ran past the alley before spotting the door. All three of them thundered passed and into the building.

The girls waited another breathless minute before they emerged from behind the dumpster.

The brunette turned to Emma with a grin. “Thanks for the save,” the other girl said. “Lily, Lily Muñoz.”

“I’m Emma Swan.” Emma felt herself get a little distracted, just looking at Lily and her smile. Emma suddenly was far too aware of that and her eyes darted around for something else to focus on. “You know, they might come back.”

Lily pulled a hair tie off her wrist and began to put her long hair up in a ponytail. “What did you have in mind?”

“Up,” Emma said and pointed to the fire escape.

Lily flashed her a smile, “I like how you think, Swan. Lead the way.”

Emma smirked back at her and jumped up to pull down the ladder. Both scrambled up until they reached the first landing before preceding up the rest of the stairs as quietly as they could, which was not very effective. By the time they were on the roof, both were laughing at how sneaky they were not.

They wandered the roof before leaning back against the stone wall about a meter high to catch their breath. A very confused Splotch stuck her head out from Emma’s bag once she set it down. The look on the cat’s face was enough to set them both back to laughing.

Lily explained more about how she’d been at the store when those guys had come in trying to brag to the girls they were with and how exactly she’d managed to piss them off so much.

Near the end of the story, something caught Emma’s eye that distracted her completely from what Lily was saying.

“What’s that?” Emma blurted out, eyes fixed on the wooden stick poking of Lily’s jacket pocket.

“Hm?” Lily looked down and froze for a second before she looked away. She shrugged and said with a forced casual tone, “Nothing.”

Emma continued to stare at the stick. _Could Lily be a witch?_ “It looks like a wand.”

That caught Lily’s attention. Still trying to act casual, she looked side long at Emma and gave another shrug. “Maybe it is. So?”

Emma only though for a second before she reached into her bag, “Maybe I have one too.” She brandished her own. Even if she couldn’t use it, she always had it on her. After being at school, she felt too vulnerable without it.

Lily’s eyes widened and a big smile spread across her face, “No way, you’re a witch?”

Emma grinned back. “Yeah! I can’t believe you are too!”

After a few minutes exclaiming over the realization they were both witches, something occurred to Emma. “How come I don’t know you from Hogwarts? We’d be in the same year, right? Are you home-schooled?”

Lily shook her head to Emma’s last question, “No, I go to Beauxbatons—it’s in France. My mum’s British, but my dad is from Spain and that’s where I was born, so that school got first dibs. I do have dual citizenship, so technically that let me pick. We live in Spain though, so it was the easiest option. We’re only in London for the summer because of dad’s job.”

Emma had only been in around London, depending on her placement in different group and foster homes and to Hogwarts. The idea of living in one country, going to school in a second, and then spending summer in a third was something she’d never even thought about. “That’s so cool.”

“I guess,” Lily said with a shrug, but it was clear she was pleased Emma was impressed. “What’s Hogwarts like?”

“Its really nice. I’d never been to a boarding school before, but I really like it. The dorms are comfortable and the food is great. Most of my professors are pretty good too—seem like they actually give shit, until some other teachers where, like, you know they don’t want to be here anymore than you do, you know? Plus, since I grew up with muggles, everything is so full of magic there—its pretty awesome.”

Lily nodded along with Emma as she spoke, “Yeah, me too. Everything at Beauxbatons is so fancy and magical. How do your parents feel about you being gone most of the year?”

Emma shifted, she’d been hoping this wouldn’t come up. “I don’t have any parents. Been in foster care most of my life. So, no one reall cares that I’m at school all the time.”

“Oh,” Lily looked surprised and she had no idea what to even say to that. “So, who did they talk to about you going to school?”

Emma was relieved Lily didn’t seem to be making a big deal out of it or apologizing or anything like that. She felt herself relax slightly, “They just told the group home I was with that I’d won a scholarship to their school, no mention of magic needed.”

Lily nodded thoughtfully, “I guess that makes sense. Besides, sometimes parents are more trouble than they’re worth.”

Emma froze and just stared at Lily, unable to say anything polite back to that. To hear someone throw away what she wanted most her whole life.

Lily did notice and paled as if just realizing what she’d said before she hurried on, “My parents, they’re, they’re alright I guess. They,” she seemed to be trying to find the right words. “They just… They’re not really big fans of the whole magic thing.” Lily looked uncomfortable and tried to change the subject, “They think I should be learning math, not transfiguration. Whatever, that’s so boring. Aren’t you glad you don’t have to deal with math anymore?”

“Definitely,” Emma nodded vigorously, anything to get away from talking about parents. “That’s why I think I’m gonna pass on Arthimancy.”

Lily’s brow furrowed, “On what?”

“We get to pick electives this year, I’ve been trying to decide what to pick.” Emma wished she could give up potions, which she was only passing because Ruby’d gotten a tutor and was sharing her notes. “Arithmancy has something to do with using numbers to predict the future. I think—it wasn’t very clear.”

Lily seemed to finally relax as they moved away from the previous topic too, “Cool, what were you thinking of taking?”

“Care of Magical Creatures for sure—my friend’s grandmother is the professor, so I’m sure that’ll be good. It’s the second elective I’m not sure about.”

“What else is there?”

“I already mentioned Arthmancy, but there’s Divination and Study of Ancient Runes too,” Emma explained. “I don’t know that I’d like to know the future, although some people said its mostly a joke class—or at least one where you can just make stuff up as long as it sounds good. Ancient Runes sounds pretty cool—that’s like, what I thought being a witch would be about.”

“Right?” Lily said with a laugh and she nudged Emma’s shoulder. “We take a year of Beings and Beasts, a year of Magical Language, and a year of Alchemy each. Then we get to pick one to continue with. But I know Hogwarts you take your big exams after fifth year, right?” Emma nodded. “We take them after sixth, so we have more time for that sort of thing.”

“I didn’t know the other schools took their version of O.W.L.s at different years. I wonder what else is different.” Emma’s ran a hand through her hair as she thought, How about flying? We only take Flying as first years.”

“Flying is a class?” Lily asked, confused. “For us, its an optional club, I suppose. We have a broomstick club and a winged horses club and you can join if you want to learn. I did both, but only enough to learn the basics.”

“Really? Wow, we don’t have any flying horses. What about Quidditch?”

“We have a couple different teams, and some home schoolers come to the school for clubs so they normally have their own too.”

“We have four different teams, one for each house,” Emma explained. “I think I’m gonna try out for the Hufflepuff Quidditch team this year.”

“Yeah, who’s your favorite regional team?”

“Holyhead Harpies,” Emma replied. “My friend Ruby has been a fan since she was a kid and she got to me before my other friend Mulan could convince me over to the Kenmare Kestrels.”

“Nice, I like Puddlemere United, but Holyhead isn’t bad. Not like the—"

“Chudley Cannons” they finished simultaneously. After sharing a look, both burst into laughter.

“Good to know you’ve got taste,” Lily said cheekily. “What position were you thinking of trying out for?”

“Beater,” Emma replied immediately.

“Yeah?” Lily asked, curious.

“Yeah,” Emma said before she launched in an explanation. “See one of my house team beaters is retiring this year and I think I might have a shot—even if third year is early for making the team. Plus, that’s the position I like best anyways so it works out. Whenever we play pick-up games, that’s always the position I go for,” Emma reached int her bag and pulled out _Quidditch Through the Ages_. “That’s why I was reading this when we ran into each other.”

“Cool, what’s with this cover?” Lily asked referencing the fact that the book had a cover on it that said _History of Football._

“Oh, I picked that up in Diagon Alley,” Emma said. “If you put this on a wizarding book, any muggle who looks at it or tried to read it will think its about whatever the cover is for. Neat, huh?”

“Definitely, I should get one of those,” Lily smiled as she handed the book back.

Emma blushed but then frowned, “That’s something I do miss about school. Since I live with muggles…It sucks having to hide everything.”

“Yeah,” Lily agreed. When Emma looked at her questioningly, she flushed and hurried to explain. “I mean, my parents _know_ but they don’t like me to talk about it. They get all…uncomfortable.”

“Really?” Emma said, not really having thought of that before—it was so easy to believe people with real families were always happy and it had never occurred to her some muggle parents might not like the idea of their kid having magic.

Lily nodded. “They were really freaked out when I got my letter and visit from Professor Champeix. I don’t think they ever really got over it. They’re glad I’m shipped away to work on magic all year round and then they act all awkward when I’m home. So, I get what it feels like, to have no one understand you.”

“That’s shite,” Emma said.

“Yeah,” Lily agreed.

“Well,” Emma ventured, “Now we can talk about magic stuff over the summer, right?”

She gave Lily a hopeful smile and Lily grinned back at her, “Right. Friends?”

“Friends.”

-x-x-x-

“I don’t know about this…” Emma said as she followed Lily down the hallway of her house.

“Look, its fine,” Lily said casually as she led Emma up to her room. “Dad’s at some conference all day and Mum’s at work so we’ve got the place to ourselves.”

After a very brief tour that consisted mostly of Lily letting Emma stick her head in various rooms, they ended up in her bedroom.

Emma looked around, even when she’d gone over to a classmate’s house for a projects, they’d really only been in the living room. None of her Hogwarts friends had her over to their houses since it didn’t make much sense for a boarding school and Ruby’s house didn’t really count.

Lily had posters up all over the walls, a mix of muggle actors, Puddlemere United, and singers from both the muggle world and the wizarding world, only half of which Emma recognized because some were in Spanish. Other than that, the room was relatively impersonal with beige walls and light green bedspread, which surprised Emma.

Lily, went over to her desk chair and sat down, “Sorry it’s kind of boring, since we’re only here for the summer, I don’t have a lot of my stuff with me. Besides, since I spend a lot of the year at school my posters are kind of outdated.”

Emma nodded, “Its still nice to have those—we aren’t allowed to put anything up like that, not that anyone has posters.”

“How many kids are you staying with?” Lily asked, intrigued.

“There’s an older girl that I’ve talked to about twice and then some boys—a nine-year-old and a five-year-old. Oh, plus a baby—I try to stay out of the house so they don’t make me babysit although I probably will have tonight, urgh.”

“Wow, I’ve never really been around that many little kids. How much do you get for babysitting?”

“Little kids are crazy,” Emma stated definitively. “And I don’t get anything for watching them except not in trouble.”

“That sucks,” Lily said and Emma gave her an appreciative smile. “What else have you been doing all summer? I’ve been looking into becoming an Animagus. Have you heard of those?”

Emma looked around for some place to sit, but there was only the bed so she hesitantly sat down on the corner nearest Lily. “I know I’ve heard the word before, but I forget what it means.”

“It’s a self-transfiguration that lets a witch turn into an animal,” Lily explained excitedly.

“Oh!” Emma eyes lit up when she realized she did know what that was. “My transfiguration professor’s one of those! She can turn into a cat.”

“Cool, I want to be one,” Lily said. “So I’ve been checking out books from the London Library on it since a lot of the ones at school are restricted.

“Nice.” Emma as impressed, “That’s pretty advanced stuff, right?”

Lily nodded, a touch of pride in her smile, “But I’m really good at transfiguration so I think I can do it earlier than anyone else at my school. This library has some really good books from Uagadou, lots of their students become animagi, its basically part of their normal curriculum.”

Emma frowned, turning into an animal would be cool, but do you get to decide what you turn into? “How do you know what your animagus form will be?”

“You don’t,” Lily said. “There are a couple things that are supposed tell you ahead of time, but some are really dodgy. I don’t know if I trust those.”

“Is it similar to a Patronus form?” Emma asked, animagi forms reminded her of the other spell that involved summoning an animal spirit.

Lily frowned, “A what?”

“A Patronus,” Emma replied and she made a vague gesture with her hand. “You know, to help protect you from dementors. They take the form of an animal.”

“Oh, right, yeah.” Lily looked thoughtful, “I don’t know, maybe.” After another second she smiled, “That’s a great idea, I’ll look into that too. Maybe there’s a more reliable test for that or I could learn that charm and see if I’d want it as my animagus form. Although I heard that’s also pretty advanced charm.”

“Yeah, it is. I don’t know it although I want to learn it,” Emma said, paling slightly with the memory of the first time she’d been near one. “Sometimes wild dementors come near Hogwarts through the Forbidden Forest or to Hogsmeade, a village nearby. I think they’re attracted to the excitement of the school and the village—besides there’s not much else nearby so it’s the only place they can feed. I really want to learn how to cast it. They’re really nasty.”

“I bet, I can’t believe they come so close to your school. I heard they can suck your soul out,” Lily gave a full body shudder. “It’s definitely not something we have a problem with at my school. What was it like?”

“Yeah, one was hiding in the forest and I could sense it,” Emma said with a shiver. “It was so cold, and like… You could feel the pull that it had, sucking you in. Every bad memory in your head, its like you’re reliving them and after just a minute of being near one, even though you want to run away, it’s like you know that you can’t escape so why even bother.” She could remember the way it had come out of the trees, the frost that had signified its arrival, how it seemed to blot out the noon day sun. She could remember feeling like she was still trapped in some of her old foster homes. She remembers _knowing_ that she would never be part of a real family.

Emma swallowed and tried to refocus on the room around her. Lily was staring at her and she felt embarrassed. She coughed and rubbed the back of her neck, “It’s not something I ever want near me ever again.”

“Yeah,” Lily agreed, clearly not having meant to bring up such hard memories. “So, um, an Animagus is more fun than that.”

Emma let out a shaky laugh at that, “Definitely. So what do you need to do to become one?”

“Oh, its super complicated. You need to make this complicated potion and meditate a lot. You actually have to keep some leaf in your mouth all the time for like, a whole month.”

Emma laughed, “Really?”

“Yeah. So weird, right?” Lily laughed too and then grabbed a book from her desk before she went over to sit on the bed with Emma. She motioned for Emma to joined her up at the head of the bed against the pillows.

Emma obligingly moved next to her, trying to ignore her now whirling thoughts at their closeness, and Lily opened the book across both of their laps. “Yeah, see here. You have to keep a mandrake leaf in your mouth, full moon to full moon, while you recite a spell. Then you need to use that leaf in a complicated potion.”

“What next?” Emma asked and Lily turned the pages, their arms brushing as she did so.

“After that you have to recite the spell every day until there’s a lightning storm.”

“What really?” Emma laughed, “Are you messing with me?”

“Hey, this is serious,” Lily said in a falsely stern voice that her smile betrayed a second later.

“See, right here,” she grabbed Emma’s hand used it to point at the animated picture of thunder clouds with a lightning strike every few seconds. “And that’s when you drink the potion.”

Emma tried to keep her mind on the conversation and not the feeling of Lily’s hand still holding her own. “And then you’re an Animagus?”

“I think, that’s where I’m having trouble,” Lily confessed. “The books I found aren’t very clear on the subject of that. So I’m trying to find others.” She looked up into Emma’s eyes and seemed to weigh her. Emma held her gaze, not sure what Lily was looking for, but hoping she could find it in her. “Would you want to do it to? Try to be an Animagus with me?”

“Yeah,” Emma breathed. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

“Awesome,” Lily replied, the most genuine smile Emma had ever seen crossing her face. Emma couldn’t help but smile right back.

“What do you want your Animagus to be?” Emma asked.

A thoughtful and wistful look swept across Lily’s face, “Something with wings. I want to fly.”

Emma nodded slowly, she understood that feeling, “I don’t care what mine would as long as it was fast. Running or flying, I don’t care.”

Lily nodded back, her eyes soft. Their heads were so close together. Emma felt the rest of the world fade away as she stared at Lily. Lily swayed forward ever so slightly and Emma thought that she might—

_Bang!_

Emma jumped at the sound of a door slamming shut and Lily pulled away, facing her bedroom door, a scowl on her face.

“Lily!” a voice shouted from below.

“Dad?” Lily said, sounding unhappy. She snapped the book shut and sat up straighter, putting one of her feet off the bed and onto the floor. “What’s he doing home so early?”

“Lily!” the man’s voice called again, closer.

Lily cursed under her breath, “I’m sorry Emma, I have no idea why he’s home.”

“Are you going to get in trouble since I’m here?” Emma asked, eyes darting around the room for an escape, but the window didn’t lead to a fire escape.

“I don’t know,” Lily admitted, “But I think it’s too late to worry about that now.”

There was a knock on her bedroom door and Lily reluctantly went over to open it.

A tall man smiled down at Lily, before he looked around and saw Emma standing near her bed. He gave her a kind smile and asked, “Hi Lils, who’s your friend?”

Lily flushed at the nickname. She tried on a frown to cover up for it and crossed her arms over her chest, “This is Emma Swan. What are you doing home so early?”

“Nice to meet you,” he said, smiling at Emma and holding out his hand, ignoring his daughter’s question in favor of examining her new friend more closely. “I’m Mr. Muñoz. I didn’t know Lily had any friends in England. How did you two meet?”

“We ran into each other at the park, sir,” Emma said stiffly.

He nodded, “Oh, that’s nice. Kids need to spend more time outside these days, I always say.”

As he looked Emma over, his eyes caught and stayed on the wand still in her hand which he evidently hadn’t noticed until then. His eyes widened, “Oh, are you a witch too?”

To her surprise none of the disgust or distrust she expected were in his voice. “Yeah,” Emma answered warily, waiting for him to say something nasty.

“Great,” he said enthusiastically. He smiled over at Lily who stared back a bit moodily, “So lovely that Lily has found someone she doesn’t have to keep secrets from. I’m guess you go to the British school though.”

Emma blinked up at him, still rather confused. “Uh, yes, sir.”

“Too bad, it would have been nice if you and Lily could be friends at school too. How do your parents feel about you being gone so much of the year? Because we just miss the heck out of Lils.”

Lily’s eyes widened and she glanced quickly at Emma to check her reaction, “Dad!”

Emma still felt that small punch in the gut from when people assumed she had parents. It hardly ever happened before Hogwarts—everyone always knew which kids were foster kids. Still, it happened occasionally at the castle until Mary Margret spilled the beans. She hated having to answer the question, to admit she was an orphan, “My…” Lily’s dad was frowning now, looking back and forth between the girls. “I’m, uh, I don’t have parents.”

Mr. Munoz’s eyes widened and he looked stricken, “Oh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

Emma shrugged, regaining her usual attitude now that surprise had worn off. “It’s fine. Really, you didn’t know.”

“Still, I feel bad.” Then his somber look lifted and he snapped his fingers, “I know, why don’t you stay for dinner? Maybe then Lily will tell us more about her school. She’s so private about magic.”

“I am not,” Lily replied, rolling her eyes. “You just wouldn’t understand.”

“So you’ve said,” Lily’s dad said, but his voice was much lighter than his daughter’s. “I’m kidding. The offers still open, Emma if you want to stay. I’ll leave you girls to it.”

With that he gave a little wave and left, closing the door behind him and leaving the girls standing in silence.

“Sorry about him,” Lily said awkwardly.

“Um,” Emma didn’t know how to bring it up, but she knew she needed to. “He did _not_ seem to hate that you were a witch.”

Panic flashed in Lily’s eyes, “He’s just…” she faltered briefly. “Just trying to pretend for your sake. Trust me,” she ended confidently enough, but Emma narrowed her eyes.

“Uh-huh. Really? Because saying he was glad you had a friend you could talk to and that he wishes you’d tell him more, seems very _not_ against magic.”

“Look, he’s just, just pretending to care, but he doesn’t really though, I promise.”

Emma studied the other girl, trying ignore what she knew until she couldn’t. Lily was lying. “I don’t believe you,” Emma said, her voice breaking. Hurt and embarrassment and sadness clashed within her at her new friend betraying her. All her confusing emotions hardened into anger and accusation. She glared at Lily, voice harsh as she said, “I know what an adult looks like when they don’t give a shit about you, trust _me_. You still want to stick to your story now?”

Lily seemed to want to argue with her, continue to push her own story, but something in Emma’s expression convinced her it wouldn’t work. “Alright, fine,” Lily admitted, stomping her foot slightly. She crossed her arms moodily at being found out, “I guess they don’t hate magic. But,” she tried to explain, “they still don’t get it. And they’re still too busy with other things to really pay attention. They never understand anything I’m talking about so what’s the point.”

Emma’s ears roared at the admission. Lily had been lying to her. They weren’t the same, with parents who didn’t want them or liked sending them away. Lily had nice parents, parents who wanted her. And she was the one who didn’t want them. “I can’t believe you lied about something like that!” she yelled, unable to keep her hurt feelings in. “I thought you were like me! But you lied!”

“I just wanted you to—” Lily tried to explain, her voice pleading, but Emma didn’t let her.

“I don’t care!” Emma shouted, before she turned around and started running for the door.

“Emma?” Lily asked, panic in her voice. “Emma, where are you going!” She quickly chased after her, trying to catch up to the other girl.

“I’m leaving!” Emma called back, bounding down the stairs and making for the front door. She whipped at tears she didn’t want Lily to notice were falling.

“Wait!” Lily protested.

“No! Goodbye!” Emma yelled, throwing open the door, before Lily could stop her, Emma had pulled out her invisibility cloak, wrapped it around herself and disappeared from sight.

“Emma!” Lilly called, but no one answered.

 


	11. Summer by the Stables

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Regina - Summer before Year 4  
> Emma - Summer before Year 3

Regina knew she was at odds with the majority of her classmates when it came to the fact that she hated summer holiday. While she was glad to see her father and their horses, winged and non-winged, that was all she was glad for. She missed her friends, she missed the professors, she missed Hogwarts itself—and she hated having to be around her mother all summer long.

Her mother spent a lot of time at the Ministry where she worked, but she also spent far too much at home for Regina’s comfort. In particular, there were numerous social events that went on during the summer and Cora seemed to have an invite to every single one. Which meant Regina was expected to go to as many as Cora could manage—all in the name of building connections and alliances with whomever Cora deemed worthy.

These events were more tolerable now that she actually knew some of the other kids from school. Obviously, best was when the Midas twins were there since they were actually her friends. Unfortunately, Tina and Tiana weren’t part of the pureblood social circle her mother moved in. There were some others that she knew and recognized from school, even if they wouldn’t hang out unless there weren’t better options. Ursula and Ariel Sea, two very different girls who were half-sisters by their Father, were good to talk to as well, even if Ursula was two years older than Regina and Ariel was the year below her.

Mother complained less about her socializing or lack thereof when the Midas girls were in attendance, but she was always pushing Regina to make more connections with other old families, like the Shafiqs or the Grants or the Westergaards. Often the younger attendees who all still went to Hogwarts would gather in a loose group at the beginnings of the gatherings while their parents watched them from a short distance away. Eventually the adults would get distracted by their own conversations and they all broke up into more genuine groups of friends and year mates.

Regina still found them dreadfully dull on the whole, she hated always having to have her guard up—all the whispering and double talk and jokes that weren’t actually meant to be funny. Between the people her own age and the adults her mother liked to show her off to, everything about these parties made her anxious and tired and tense. Even just having to smile and be relentlessly polite were tedious enough.

At least right now Mother was relatively content to leave her to be on her own. Regina dreaded the day her mother started to truly pull her into her own conversations, for career reasons or marriage alliances. She wanted to continue to hide away for as long as possible. Also, she did not like to think about what Mother was planning or plotting that had her so focused on her own social machinations instead of Regina’s prospects.

Not that it stopped Cora from making sure Regina was well coached in who all the influential people were and what she hoped to gain from them. Which meant aside from various lessons in etiquette, pueblood family lines, and other nonsense, Regina had to be adequately dressed to both look appealing and show off their wealth. Regina was fairly certain she had more dress robes than anyone else their year at Hogwarts, except perhaps Abby Midas.

Currently, Regina was standing perfectly still so the enchanted needle didn’t stick her as the stitch witch her mother hired to design for this occasion. She was resisting the urge to sigh as that would be considered movement when movement on the other side of the window caught her attention. There was a boy around her own age walking across the fields to one of the barns for non-magical horses. “Who’s that?” No one should be one their property she didn’t recognize. As soon as she asked, she wished she could take it back—even if this boy wasn’t supposed to be here, he didn’t deserve whatever punishment Cora might unleash on him.

Cora turned her head, sharp but overall unconcerned. She barely looked at him before turning back to Regina. She gave a small dismissive wave, “Some muggle boy, he’s helping care for the horses.”

“Oh.” A new stable boy? Regina always felt nervous that Mother liked to have muggles as servants for anything nonmagical. Firstly, it was treading very close to if not on the line of the Statute of Secrecy, having muggles on a Wizard estate, especially one with winged horses. Also, she disliked how much of a disadvantage the muggles were to her mother. Sure, her mother was an immensely powerful witch few wizards could stand against, but muggles were so vulnerable. Between the fact that they could be _obliviated_ at any moment and her mother’s way with hearts, a small misstep could result in their mysterious disappearance.

“Now then,” Cora’s voice refocused her attention form concern for the local muggles to her ever present concern about her mother. Cora moved to stand behind her, shooing the older witch to the side. “Don’t these new dress robes look nice?”

Regina looked at herself in the mirror. The new dress robes were powder blue, with delicate lacework, a skirt which shimmered in the light, and her shawl was spun of gossworm silk. The outfit was very pretty. However, she much preferred her school robes or her riding clothes, as she was not so worried about ruining them. Also, light blue wasn’t a color she liked to see on herself, it made her feel like a baby. “I suppose.”

Cora’s eyes flashed and her hands landed on Regina’s shoulders. Her fingers dug in as she made a displeased noise, “These were expensive. You need to be more appreciate of the effort I go to for you.”

Regina resisted the urge to duck her head at the slip of her tongue, _of course Mother would take offense to that._ Besides, Regina knew a prompted question when she heard it, being back from school made her out of practice agreeing with Mother and far too likely to share her own thoughts when she knew they weren’t wanted. “I’m sorry, Mother.”

Cora looked her over in the mirror one more time before turning away, “Hm, so am I.”

-x-x-x-

Regina was in the tack room since she knew her horse’s tack had been recently polished and stored in the general room when the boy she’d seen last week walked in. She momentarily regretted her decision to ride a non-winged horse today. Unfortunately, without Papi here to run certain disillusionment charms over the skies and Mother wouldn’t cast them for her, calling it a waste of magic, she didn’t have much of a choice. Not that she minded riding nonwinged horses, she just didn’t like having to option taken away from her. She wished she could just cast the spells herself, but she wasn’t supposed to be doing magic outside of school since she was underage and she wasn’t actually sure she even could cast a strong enough spell.

“Oh, hi,” he said when he noticed her.

“Hi,” Regina replied, studying him more closely now that she wasn’t seeing him from a distance through the window. He looked to be around her age, in a t-shirt and jeans that muggles and muggleborn seemed to favor, with messy brown hair and matching brown eyes. She judged him to be about a year older than she was, but only an inch or taller. She should probably introduce herself if he was going to be spending a lot of time in the barns. “My name is Regina Navar.”

“Daniel Colter,” he said, eyes widening slightly at her last name and realizing who she was. “nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you as well,” Regina gave a little nod before turning back to the tack. She wanted to get her gear and head outside so she could start practicing—it was hot in the barn and she wanted the wind in her face so that her riding outfit wasn’t so warm.

“Do you need any help?” Daniel asked, walking over to stand next to her.

Regina shook her head, she was more than capable to getting her own horse ready. “No, I’m fine doing this myself,” she replied, selecting a bridle and moving over to the saddles.

“Are you sure?” he reached over and took her bridle. “Let me carry this—it’ll go faster if I help carry things too.”

Regina scowled at him, but relented. Maybe Mother had told him he had to help or he would get in trouble—that still didn’t mean she had to like it though. “Fine.” Since he wasn’t much taller than she was and his mistook the length of the reins. Regina narrowed her eyes as he grabbed them in time to stop them from dragging on the floor. “Be careful with that,” Regina snapped. “If you’re going to insist on helping, then you will treat my tack with care.”

“Sorry,” he said, blushing slightly at his fumble.

Regine shook her head and went back to what she was doing, hesitating on what else to get before relenting and getting a bareback pad. If they were going to start jumping, she could use a little extra cushion to start with. Regina hoped he felt foolish when he saw she wasn’t getting a full saddle and that she would have been able to carry all of her tack herself.

“This is what you’re using for a saddle?” Daniel eyed the bareback pad she had slung over her arm.

“Yes,” Regina wasn’t really in the mood for twenty questions from this muggle boy, muggles made her nervous, since like at parties, she had to hide away part of herself. It was rather discomforting.

He looked at her with confusion, “Why?”

Regina sighed, but evidently Daniel wanted to talk. She supposed it might make sense for him to try to be friends with her if he was working for her parents. “I’m learning how to ride bareback, if you must know.”

He stared at her and nearly missed a step, his big brown eyes wide, “Bareback, um, are you sure you should be doing that?”

Regina bristled at the presumption to know how skilled or not she was at riding. She wasn’t that out of practice and were these not her family’s horses. “Yes. We’re practicing jumps today.”

“You’re jumping bareback?” he said, still surprised.

“Yes, that’s what I just said,” Regina was sure if she was pleased she’d surprised him or disgruntled he didn’t think she could do it. He seemed to get the message and stopped asking questions.

They reached Melchoir’s stall and Regina went in to greet the older horse she’d been practicing bareback with due to his calm and steady nature. Daniel stood by quietly while she put on the bareback pad and tightened the girth even though he could have hung up the brindle and left.

She was unsurprised to see that he stayed while she put that on Mel too and followed her out to one of the riding rings, intending to practice for a few minutes just riding before moving onto the other ring. She’d started to practice riding bareback last summer and she’d done some practice over winter break—it was actually warmer and easier to ride bareback in the winter, but she knew she was still getting back into the habit this summer.

As they walked, he seemed to find his courage again, “So you like riding?”

“Yes,” Regina said, before relenting because she really did enjoy riding. “I’ve been riding since I was little. Papi taught me. I don’t get to do it while I’m at school so I try to ride as much as I can over the summer.”

“Oh right, I heard you go to boarding school,” he sounded genuinely interested, although she wasn’t sure where he would have heard anything about her. “That sounds cool.”

“It is, I enjoy it—even if I miss Papi and the horses,” Regina replied, relaxing a little.

“Yeah,” he nodded, his shaggy brown hair moving with the motion. “I’d miss my family a lot. It’s fun helping Beth here over the summer—it’s nice to see her more. Do you have any sisters or brothers?”

“No, its only me,” Regina replied, trying to squash down a bit of jealousy—she’d always wanted siblings to help divert Mother’s attention or just to have someone who understood what she was like—an ally.

Daniel didn’t seem to notice her discomfort and so he just nodded. “How long have you had Melchoir?” He nodded at the horse she was leading.

“We’ve had him his whole life, I think. I’m just using him for my bareback riding practice. Normally I ride Balthazar or Helah, but since they’re younger and more spirited, they’re not as suited for my practice.”

“That make sense,” Daniel said before jogging a bit ahead so he could push open the barn doors for Regina and Melchoir.

“Thanks,” Regina said. To her surprise, he continued to accompany her outside.

“You’re welcome,” he flashed her a cheerful smile that was so carefree she found herself smiling back. “I know how to ride, but not bareback. Its cool that you’re learning.”

“Thanks,” Regina tucked a strand of her hair that had come out of her braid behind her ear. “I’ve wanted to for a while, but Papi didn’t let me try until last year. He lets me practice on my own now though since I’ve mastered the basics.”

“Nice,” Daniel said, sounding impressed.

Regina hoped that meant he wasn’t going with her because he was worried she didn’t know what she was doing. Especially since they’d finally reached the ring. If he was here though, she might as well have him help, “Would you mind holding Mel’s reins so I can mount?”

“Sure, no problem,” he said enthusiastically, accepting the reins from her and leading Melchoir into a good position in front of the mounting block. “How’s this?”

“Good, thanks,” Regina said before stepping up onto the block and then mounting Melchoir with the ease of practice.

He handed the reins back up to her once she’d adjusted her seat and she accepted them with a smile. Leading the horse over to the ring, she waited while Daniel opened and closed the gate for her. Once in she refocused on her horse and began walking him around before switching to a brisk trot, getting used to riding bareback again. Each time she did so this summer it was easier to re-familiarize herself with how it felt and she really did love being able to feel so connected with her horse the way she did without a saddle.

Eventually she did remember Daniel, and looked up to see him leaning by the fence, looking impressed. When he noticed her stare, he smiled and waved. She returned the wave automatically. He made jabbed his thumb over his shoulder to the stable and gave another wave before heading back.

Regina tried to ignore the feeling of disappointment she got as she watched Daniel jog away. _He was nice_ , she thought. _I hope I see him again_.

-x-x-x-

Regina knew there would be trouble in the morning as she stood in her bedroom, newly returned from the latest party. She should have expected Mother to be furious with her outfit choice for the evening. Technically, she’d followed her mother’s guide lines for an appropriate dress robe outfit, but she’d known as she designed it that Mother would not approve. She’d tried to wear it anyways though. And look where it hadn’t gotten her—Mother had transfigured it into a copy of her least favorite outfit.

The outer vest of light gray over a navy-blue shirt had been replaced with a sleeveless light blue top that shimmered. Her navy jacket with long coattails and navy cape had been replaced with a white over robe was covered in intricate beadwork. She didn’t mind skirts, but not only was the short white skirt too tight for her liking, it meant she had to sit carefully, which is why she’d designed a longer navy skirt which flared out over loose gray pants. Lastly, her mother had turned her comfortable gray shows into white sandals that had more heel than she was comfortable with.

“ _Reparifarge!_ ” Regina said, and the transfigured dress robes morphed back into her original outfit. The changes made by her mother disappeared and instead the outfit she’d designed was restored

She’d been tense all night, worried about coming home and what her punishment would be, however, her mother ended up having a good night overall, finally able to make contact with some foreign officials she’d been trying to get close to. That, coupled with the alcohol she’d had with them, and the fact that Regina had been perfectly behaved the rest of the night had put Mother in a good enough mood that she’d decided to sentence her in the morning.

Now though, that meant she was still filled with nerves and anticipation—she never slept well when she knew she would be in trouble in the morning.

Regina paced briefly in her room before deciding she couldn’t stay in another moment longer. Impulsively, she grabbed the astronomy summer work she’d left on her desk. She’d been planning to do it in two nights when the moon was fuller, but she preferred having it with her in case Mother tried to yell at her for being outside late. She fingered the material of her cape and turned a bit in the mirror to see that no damage had been sustained to the outfit. She decided against changing her clothes—after all one of the reasons she had designed these dress robes this way was so that they would be comfortable. After checking that her wand bag was secure since even these dress robes didn’t have any pockets, she went down the stairs as quietly as she knew how.

Slipping out a side door, she decided to head for the non-winged horse stable. Since the winged horse barn had far more alarm spells on it than this one did and that the winged horses were far more temperamental about their sleeping schedules.

She slipped through the stable to the non-winged horse she often rode only to find that, of course, Balthazar was recovering from a hoof injury and couldn’t be ridden for another week still. She didn’t feel up to bareback riding so she didn’t want to use Melchoir and Helah was on loan to another breeder. Regina sighed, and decided to just forgo riding tonight. It made her nervous in the dark anyways.

Regina continued through the barn and out the other side deciding to go to the top of the hill, if only to make her astronomy excuse more legitimate. Besides, it wasn’t like she had any other better destination in mind. She didn’t bother sitting under the tree—it wasn’t need for shade on this bright, but sunless night.

She wasn’t out there for more than a few minutes—only enough time for her thoughts to slowly calm down as she absorbed the peace this night seemed to exude—when she heard what sounded like someone walking through the grass.

She drew her wand and squinted in the darkness, eyes drawn to the torchlight she now spotted. It seemed like someone was heading for her, but if they had a torch, it must be a muggle. She lowered her wand out of sight, but kept her grip on it. Eventually the figure got close enough to her to be able to see his face—it was Daniel.

Regina frowned, wondering why he was here, but slipped her wand away and scrambled to her feet to wait for him to reach her.

“Hi,” Daniel said, once he’d reached the top of the hill. He didn’t seem surprised to see her.

“Hi,” Regina greeted before asking, “What are you doing here so late?” He should have even been able to be on the property—they had strong wards that got activated at night, no one should be able to enter who wasn’t part of their family.

He gave her a cheeky smirk, “I could ask you the same question.”

Regina rolled her eyes and pointed out, “I live here.”

Daniel smiled and slipped his hands into his pockets. “That you do,” he acknowledged before explaining further. “Your father requested my sister and I stay over night to help with Artemis’s pregnancy. She’s due today or tomorrow.”

“Oh.” He must have heard her when she went into the stables. “I didn’t mean to take you away from that.”

“It’s alright. Waiting is rather boring. Beth has it covered for now. She just said to be sure to be back in an hour so she could take her nap.”

“I don’t mean to keep you,” Regina said politely.

“Like I said, the waiting is boring. I don’t mind an excuse for a break—if you don’t mind, that is”

He seemed anxious not to inconvenience her and Regina was rather touched, not used to people being so careful with her preferences. She gave him a gentle smile, “No, no. It’s fine.”

He grinned, “Well, alright then. So what were you doing out here?”

“Oh, I just couldn’t sleep so I figured I’d come out here and look at the stars,” Regina said as she gestured to the ground where she’d been sitting and hoped that didn’t seem like too strange a response.

“Oh, okay,” he seemed to accept her answer until he frowned at her squinting in the moonlight. “What are you wearing?”

Regina blushed and hoped Daniel couldn’t tell. “Um, I had to go to a party with my parents tonight, it was sort of a dress up party. Why? Does it look too strange?”

“No,” he said immediately, before he reached up to rub the back of his neck. “Well, it does look kinda strange, but it doesn’t look bad. You look pretty.”

Regina felt her blush increase but at least now she was fairly sure he was blushing too. “Thanks.”

He nodded a bit helplessly. “You’re welcome.”

Regina looked away, trying to think of how to change the subject. “Do you want to sit?”

“Yeah, sure,” he agreed and they moved over to where she’d dropped her star chart and telescope.

After they got settled Daniel leaned around her to ask, “What’s that?”

“Astronomy homework,” Regina replied without thinking it through as she was trying to look up at the moon instead of at Daniel.

“Really? My school doesn’t have Astronomy. Boarding school must be so interesting if you can take that for science.”

Regina’s mind raced to come up with a more believable story, “It’s not actually homework, sorry. Papi’s just teaching me some things since it’s a hobby of his—he likes to call them classes and therefore like to give me little assignments, he calls it homework.”

Daniel laughed, “That sounds fun. I can find Orion’s belt, and that’s about it. Which constellations do you know?”

Regina knew more about the orientation of the constellations in the winter than in the summer, which is why they had summer homework. She began by pointing out Polaris, and then the few summer constellations they’d studied at the end of the year. She was able to find Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, but that was about it. Together, they looked over her star charts, trying to identify a few of the others like Draco, Cygnus, and Cassiopeia.

Daniel was easy to talk to and he seemed actually interested in what she knew. Regina found relaxed by his open nature, Daniel didn’t seem like he’d ever have any secrets nor did he seem to hide what he was thinking, which was very refreshing. She pulled out her telescope and they began taking turns using it, ending up very close indeed to each other.

Eventually, they ended up lying side by side on the hill, arms pressed together, talking instead of stargazing. Regina found, with the right twist it was easier to talk about school to him than she’d thought. “We have dorm rooms that we share,” she was explaining. “There are five other girls in my house in my year, but there are three other houses.”

“Not a very big school then, I guess,” Daniel said, “There are at least a hundred kids in my year.”

“Really?” Regina of course knew the difference between muggle and wizarding populations but she’d never thought about it in terms of schooling. “Wow, that seems like so many.”

“I thought you’d only been in this school since you were eleven. How many kids were I your old school?”

“I was home-schooled actually,” Regina said, thinking back on the tutors mother had come to teach her whatever she felt was important for her to know, a surprising amount of muggle school subjects like math, reading, and world history, although always with a magical element. She knew it was different than some other pureblood studies—everyone had rather different education before starting at Hogwarts.

“Wow, I can’t imagine that. Your mum or dad taught you?”

“Oh no, I had tutors,” she couldn’t remember if that was common among muggles—Mother hadn’t let her take muggle studies—so she kept talking. “I can’t imagine Mother teaching me like that. She has more important things to do. Papi taught me how to ride and care for horses. He told me a lot of stories about constellations, but he only recently started to teach me the more academic side.”

“Nice,” Daniel said, sitting up to look at her better. “My dad’s been teaching me some gardening stuff, but he gets out of work pretty late most days.”

“We learn about plants in school,” Regina said, sitting up as well. She was a little unprepared for how close that brought them but he didn’t lean back so neither did she.

“Really? Your school has botany? Did it start as an agricultural school or something?”

Regina nodded, not entirely sure what that meant, but she decided to go with it. “Yeah.”

“What’s something that your school doesn’t teach that you’d like to learn?” Daniel asked, smiling like he was proud of his question.

Regina couldn’t help but smile back, distracted by him until she pulled her thoughts together enough to answer, “I’m not sure.” She thought more seriously and tried to come up with a good answer before her eyes lit up, “Cooking. I’d like to learn how to cook.”

“Yeah?” Daniel asked, clearly entertained by her answer. “I bet you’d be a great cook, especially if you put as much effort and care into cooking as you do riding.”

Regina blushed, ducking her head slightly before looking back up at him, “You think so?”

Daniel nodded, “Yeah. I think you could do anything you put your mind to, Regina.”

Her blush deepened and she felt herself spellbound by his gaze. Slowly, without even thinking about it, they both leaned in as everything around them faded. Their lips met in a gentle kiss that sent that increased the feeling butterflies fluttering in Regina’s stomach. Regina felt her eyes flutter closed and her hand reached out to rest on his arm while his own cupped her cheek.

Just as slowly as they came together, they parted. Their eyes met and each smiled.


	12. Revelations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Emma - Year 3  
> Regina - Year 4

“I can’t wait for next week,” Mary Margaret gushed as Emma and her friends hung out in one of Hogwarts many courtyards between classes. “Hogsmeade is going to be so fun.”

“I’m just glad that my social worker’s signature was good enough for Sprout,” Emma said. She’d been worried when they received the forms and it had said parent or guardian permission seeing as for the school year she didn’t have either.

“Yeah,” Ruby said, but she didn’t sound happy about it. “It’s alright I guess.”

David frowned at her, “Isn’t it fun? You’ve been, right?”

Ruby nodded, “Yeah a couple times over winter break, Granny takes me with her when she visits friends and stuff.” She didn’t sound particularly happy about it, which surprised Emma since normally Ruby liked going with Granny places. Also, Emma was pretty sure

“Did something happen?” Emma asked, remembering Ruby had talked about it last year when they received the forms and she’d seemed excited to show them around.

Ruby flinched, “We went more over the summer this year and I guess I’m a little sick of it. The main street is still pretty fun, just some other places weren’t.” She shook her head and put on a false smile. “Never mind, I’m being silly—it’ll be good. How can any trip that involves Honeydukes not be?”

If anything was going to distract Emma it was the mention of food. “I hear they have a thousand different candies,” she said excitedly. “And I’ve never had butterbeer, which sounds kinda gross, but if everyone loves it, it’s gotta be good.” David nodded along with her, since he was muggleborn and hadn’t had it yet either.

Now Ruby smiled for real and laughed, “Butterbeer is the best. And I’m not sure about a thousand, but Honeydukes has a ton of candy.”

“I want to go to Madame Puddifoot’s Tea Shop,” Mary Margaret said, which surprised no one. Emma was rather surprised she’d want to go anywhere else. “But I wouldn’t want to go with myself.” She gave David a sidelong look he didn’t seem to notice. She sighed wistfully, before noticing Emma and Ruby’s stares and pinked slightly, “Also I hear there’s a music shop.”

“Yeah, there are a lot of diff—” Ruby began explaining before she was interrupted.

A male voice from behind Emma said, “Excuse me, are you Emma White?”

“Swan,” Emma corrected automatically before she turned around. A Ravenclaw a year or two above her was standing there, looking both uncomfortable at having to interrupt and hopeful. Emma inwardly sighed, random people coming up to had decreased this year, but she as starting to think they’d never go away completely—even if her duel with Hans scared a lot of them off. “It’s Emma Swan, but, uh, yeah. My parents were Snow and David White. Why?”

He held out his hand with a smile, seemingly relieved he had the right person, “I’m August Booth.”

Emma awkwardly shook it, still not sure where this was going. Should she know who this was? “Okay, hi?”

He seemed to realize she didn’t understand and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “Um, my dad was friends with your parents. Really good friends actually, sorry I thought you might… Well, anyway, I think he’d like to meet you, if you don’t mind.”

Emma blinked, this guy wanted her to meet his dad. Fellow Hogwarts students were one thing, some random adult was another thing. She had no idea what to say besides, “Oh, um, really?”

“Yeah,” August said seemingly building up some confidence. “He and my uncle were with them against the Red Fist and everything.” He brightened up as if he remembered an unshakeable argument, “He helped make the spell that hid you.”

Emma didn’t know what to say to that. August was clearly proud of his father, so she didn’t want to say that she thought the spell had been overkill and that she hated it for meaning she grew up in foster care instead of with the Lucas’ or something else similar. “He did?” she tried to sound neutral, but wasn’t sure she managed since he faltered at her tone. Emma hastily moved on to her main excuse, “Oh, well, I still don’t think I can go…wherever you live.”

“Oh!” he hit his forehead lightly. “Sorry, I never said. We live in Hogsmeade, not far from the main shops. He has a shop where he fixes up magical devices and things like that. I was really just was hoping you could come by the shop and say hi.”

Emma relaxed a little at that. That made way more sense than this kid asking her to come home with him to meet his dad. Visiting a certain store wasn’t a big deal and to be honest, this was the first time besides Ruby that someone knew someone that was actually friends with her parents. She tried to ignore her curiosity about them, but truthfully, she was always interested to hear more. “I guess I could…”

“Great!” he gave her a big smile that almost had her regretting agreeing to meet his dad. “I’ll come find you next Hogsmeade visit. Thank you so much. I’ll leave you alone then.” Before Emma could say anything more he waved and said, “Bye!”

“Bye?” Emma said, bewildered by his abrupt departure.

“Well, that was awkward,” David said bluntly as they all watched the kid jog off.

“Thanks David,” Emma said, rolling her eyes. “I hadn’t noticed.”

-x-x-x-

Hogsmeade was a lot fun, Emma thought as they went around to the different shops. Her favorite was Honeydukes, but Zonko’s Joke Shop was cool too—even if some of the pranks seemed rather extreme from a muggle standpoint. However, for most of it, she felt this ever-present anticipation. She’d gone back and forth with her friends in private about whether or not to actually go with August, but ultimately decided she was too curious to resist. Therefore, since August said he’d find them, but he didn’t say when or where, she was constantly on alert for when he might show up.

Eventually, he caught up to them at the Three Broomsticks after they’d just finished enjoying their first, in Emma and David’s cases, butterbeers.

“Hey,” his face lit up as he came over to the table. “There you are, I was worried—never mind. Are you free to come now?”

“Yeah, sure. I said I’d come.” Emma rubbed her arm subconsciously, trying to ignore the fact that she almost had changed her mind. “Do you mind if my friends come?” Emma didn’t mention that if they couldn’t come, she wasn’t going.

But either he understood her tone or he really didn’t mind because he smiled and said, “Not at all.”

All four of them stood up to follow August and he lead them a street or two over from the main High Street until they stopped outside _Marco’s Handyman & Woodworking Services_. Emma wasn’t sure why she was so nervous, they were close to the main road and the shop looked perfectly ordinary. Ruby and Mary Margaret were joking around and David was distracted by the Quidditch store nearby—none of them thought it as a big deal to go to an extra store like that.

It was just, another friend of her parents. She still didn’t know what she wanted to find or what she hoped to learn. She remembered August saying that he helped make the spell that hid her. Did she want to confront him over that? She had no idea, but it was too late to back out now.

August pushed open the door which chimed cheerfully. “Hi, Dad. I brought along a surprise friend.” They all filed in after him and Emma saw an older wan with a neatly trimmed graying beard and kind eyes look up from a counter. He smiled when he saw his son come into the room and looked over them all with interest. August gestured to her, “This is Emma Swan, Snow White’s daughter. Emma, this is my father, Macro Booth.”

“Oh!” he smiled at her and came out from behind the counter to shake her hand. “Very nice to meet you, young lady. I suppose you are old enough to be coming for Hogsmeade visits now, aren’t you?”

“Uh, yeah,” Emma wasn’t sure what to do. It was one thing to have students or even teachers, know who she was—another thing to have other adults treat her like she was something special. “Nice to meet you.”

After a round of introductions of her friends, Marco recognized Mary Margaret’s surname and he gave Ruby a sharp look, for all he said that he still saw Granny frequently—David being a muggleborn meant he didn’t know him at all—but he smiled at all of them and was very polite.

“So,” Emma said, unsure where to go from here. “August said you helped with the spell that hid me away?”

“Oh, yes,” Marco said, with a smile. “Fine piece of work that spell was. Snow, Faye, and I had to work on it quickly since you decided to come early. I’m glad it worked out well, I wasn’t sure the locator was calibrated correctly, for all it was within the margin for error.”

Emma froze at that, remembering from her own file, and she blurted out, “It dropped me off on the side of a highway near a forest.”

“What?” Marco looked shocked. “I’m so sorry. It shouldn’t have done that. It was supposed to drop off outside a hospital.”

Emma felt her face turn red as everyone stared at her. She hadn’t meant to share that. She hastily tried to revert back to a casual tone. “Oh, um, that makes more sense. It might have been near one?”

Marco put his hand on her arm, “Truly, I am sorry. I would never have used the spell if I thought it put you in danger. We used it on August too, but for him it worked—it never occurred to me that it might have malfunctioned for you.”

“Thanks,” Emma said, touched by his concern. “You used it on August?” She turned to look at the boy in surprise.

He and Marco nodded, “It’s eliminates all the different methods of finding someone except blood magic. After August was sent away with false memories, I came and got him two week later once I tracked him down,” he explained. “It wouldn’t have taken so long, except with the tragedy. While they managed to hurt themselves as much as us, we couldn’t take the chance until all of Red Fist was captured once again. It would have worked the same for you except that since both Snow and David died, you had no living blood relatives. In that sense, then the spell did its job so well, no one could find you.”

Emma nodded, Granny had told her something similar. Marco continued, “Everything ended up being such a mess. Snow, David, and a couple others died. My brother and nephew along with the others are still cursed. I just don’t know how it all went so wrong.”

Emma frowned, that sounded like he meant something specific. “What about your brother?

“He,” Marco swallowed, looking somber. “He was afflicted by the spell. My nephew too, we wanted to send him along the way we dd you and August but he was too old and he was adopted so we couldn’t use the blood trace. We didn’t have any other choice,” he seemed like he was trying to make a case, prove to her they’d made the right decision.

Emma’s mind fixated briefly on the ‘adopted’ part of the sentence before she refocused, “What spell?”

Marco’s eyes widened and he looked at her in disbelief. “You don’t know?”

When Emma shook his head, he explained, “In order to protect some of us, Snow and another witch—Faye Sapphire—cast a spell on them—only since Snow unfortunately…” He swallowed again, “Well, we haven’t been able to reverse the spell. So my brother and my nephew are still afflicted by it.”

“Oh, that’s terrible,” Emma tried to convey her sorrow for them. “What did the spell do?”

“It put any dwarves or children into an enchanted sleep and any witches or wizards under a powerful memory spell which made them think they were muggles and suppressed their magic.” Emma’s eyes grew very wide and she heard Mary Margaret gasp. “My nephew is still asleep, un-aging, while my brother no longer remembers me.”

Emma’s mind raced, there were people who were in magical comas or cursed into not remembering anything about their lives for years now _. How horrible._ “Why did they do that?”

Obviously, Emma’s confusion and horror must have shown in her voice as Marco rushed to explain, “We were concerned members of the Red Fist were going to personally target some of us. They wanted information and revenge. It was supposed to be temporary.” There was real despair in his voice and he started to get chocked up talking about it, “We… They… I’m sorry, I’d rather not talk about it. Especially if you… Excuse me.”

With that he retreated to the back of the shop and out of site, leaving the students alone in the main portion of the shop.

After a moment of silence, Emma turned to August, “I’m so sorry I made your dad upset. I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.”

August sighed and waved off her apologies, “It’s alright, I hadn’t realized you didn’t know about the curse.” He ran his fingers through his hair, “I think Dad hoped you might know something about breaking it.”

“What? How would I know that?” Emma asked confused and a little on edge, more expectations for her due to her parents?

August shrugged, but he watched her carefully. “I don’t know. Maybe he thought you inherited something once you were found again, something that might help. Like a letter or instructions from your mother that might tell us how to break the curse.” He couldn’t help but look at her hopefully at the end there.

Emma shook her head. She’d taken to McGonagall up on her offer from when they first met to have her parents will explained to her more thoroughly last year. Most of their possessions, such as their house and so on, she would receive upon turning seventeen and until then she would receive her allowance. She’d asked if there were any letters or other items like that she could have now. McGonagall said that there was nothing like that, Snow and David had never truly expected to die so young and so hadn’t left anything like that behind for her.

“No, she didn’t. I’m sorry,” Emma said sincerely. She wanted to help, she really did, but she couldn’t.

August deflated at that, but he pulled himself together to nod. “Yeah, I figured it was a long shot. Oh well, I’m gonna go find my dad, do you mind?”

Emma shook her head, “No, it’s fine. We’ll get out of your way then.”

“Thanks for coming,” he said politely and gave them a wave as they filed out.

Her friend left her to her thoughts as they made their way back to High Street. This was just another thing she was supposed to because of her parents. She couldn’t help them though, she wasn’t Emma White—she was Emma Swan. Emma Swan didn’t break curses and it wasn’t her job to. If a bunch of adult witches and wizards couldn’t fix the problem, how could she?

Emma tried to put the whole thing out of her mind. She wasn’t anyone special and her parents hadn’t left her any guidance—there was nothing she could do.

-x-x-x-

Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be—putting the whole thing out of her mind that is. Ruby and Emm had talked to Granny the next time they visited. She told them she hadn’t mentioned the curse because she knew there was nothing they could do about it. Granny was actually rather annoyed Marco had told them or that he and August implied Emma might have some additional information that might be able to help.

Emma felt relieved after hearing that, but something was niggling at the back of her mind, like Granny wasn’t sharing everything she knew. That made her so uncomfortable that she decided to ignore it completely.

She succeeded in doing so until the next time they were at the Three Broomsticks and someone came up to her to yell about it. They were all minding their own business and chatting about classes when a short man none of them knew came up to their table and banged his mug down. “You!” he pointed an unsteady finger in Emma’s general direction. “Are you Emma White?”

He was clearly drunk, even though it was the middle of the day. Emma knew enough about dealing with drunks that she didn’t even bother trying to correct him. “Maybe, who are you?”

“Don’ you know?” he asked. “Unbelievable. You know, we trust’d Snow when she said she’d help—and now look where we are! Ev’ryone’s cursed! Or might as well be!”

“Look, I don’t know you and—” Emma tried to say, she needed to get this guy to leave.

“Hah!” the man said. “Why not? Just used us like she did. Then she went and died and now what?”

Emma was beginning to get very worried, this man seemed particularly angry at her and it sounded like it was over the curse some of her parent’s old friends were under. “I don’t know anything about that!”

“Come, White—you gotta know something. What’s the point of the bloody prophecy then?” the drunk man was in her face now, pointing an accusing finger. His breath stank of fire whiskey. “Your mum’s fault we’re in this mess. You’re the savior!” Emma stepped back even further, glad her wand was at hand and wondering if she should be casting a shield charm just to get him to back off.

“I think that’s enough for you,” a stern woman in high quality navy blue robes came over. She didn’t look at all like the sort of person Emma would have expected to know this drunk man. “Leroy, out. Now.” She flicked her wand and he was steadily pushed out of the room, through the doors and out into the street. Through the windows, they could all see another short man take hold of him to lead him away.

She watched to make sure the other man escorted Leroy down the street before turning back to Emma. She gave her a gentle smile and her voice seemed almost an entire octave higher, “I’m sorry about that.”

“Who are you?” Emma asked, too confused to be more polite, even though the witch had gotten Leroy to leave.

“Faye Sapphire,” she introduced herself with a smile. “I was a good friend of your mother’s.”

“What was he talking about?” Emma asked, questions piling up. “That curse? Why did he call me “the savior”?”

“Yes,” Faye nodded. “He was referring the unbreakable spell. I don’t suppose you’ll understand if I tell you that the rest would be better explain when you’re older, would you?” She gave Emma a hopeful look, with a bit of a sardonic twist to it.

Emma folded her arms. “No.”

“I thought not—very well.” Emma blinked in surprise, normally adults were far more reluctant to hand over information they thought she shouldn’t have until she was older. Faye gestured to the empty chair, “Do you mind if I join you? I’ll do my best to explain.”

After getting settled and ordering herself a cup of tea, Faye began to explain, “As you know, before their final confrontation with Red Fist, some of your parent’s followers were concerned about the danger that came with opposing them. Prior to the original confrontation that lead to the group being jailed, the Red Fist hadn’t known much about the people who were working against them, and so they’d enjoyed anonymity, which decreased the risk they would be targeted for retaliation or would be kidnapped in the hopes of gaining information. After though, everyone had to testify in court which meant the people who took them down were well known.”

Emma nodded that agreed with everything she’d already learned from McGonagall, Granny and a few books she’d read on the subject. Her parents and their friends worked in secret to investigate the group of muggle and wizards known as the Red Fist, who wished to break the statue of secrecy and use magic to exert influence over the majority of muggles. With her father undercover and no one really suspecting that anyone was actively opposing them, they were able to achieve much without the Red Fist even knowing about them.

“When the wizards escaped from Azkaban and then freed their muggle counterparts from muggle jail, it put number of people at risk. Some didn’t trust the aurors offer of protection—after all, aurors guard Azkaban along with dementors. They felt hiding was their best course of action. Your parents, while not wanting to hide themselves, understood their fear. Snow and I crafted a spell which would help keep those who wished, safe.”

“Now the other thing to keep in mind is that a handful of the people involved were dwarves. There is a dwarven mine near your family estate and your mother grew up knowing them. In fact, the Red Fist came to Snow’s attention when they attempted to rob that exact mine. Dwarves react differently to magic than wizards, although they appear very similar to wizards to the uninformed person.”

“Is Leroy a dwarf?” David asked with sudden realization.

“Correct. The spell Snow and I created had different effects on witches and wizards than it did on dwarves. For a witch, it caused complete memory loss and implanted false memories of being a muggle while also suppressing their magic. For a dwarf, it put them into an enchanted sleep, which also prevented aging.”

“Marco Booth said he had to create the spell used on me because I was born too early,” Emma said, frowning. “Because the other spell wouldn’t work right on a baby.”

“Yes. Originally, your mother was going to undergo the spell as well, since she was pregnant with you at the time and neither her nor your father wanted to risk your safety.” Emma felt some warmth at that, but it was as always over shadowed by the reality that what did happen to her was not remotely safe or happy.

“However, since she went into labor early, we created the other spell for you, tied in with blood magic to hide you as a baby. Magic has strange and dangerous side effects on babies or any child under the age of five if it isn’t done very carefully which is why your spell was primarily a transportation spell.”

“But what does that have to with Emma being the savior,” Mary Margaret put in.

“The spell we crafted for everyone else is still in effect. There are two wizards, three witches, and four dwarves still spelled.”

“Leroy thinks I know how to break it, the spell,” Emma said. It wasn’t a question. Between what he had been shouting and what Marco implied—it wasn’t a hard leap to make.

“Yes,” Faye confirmed. She watched Emma, but did reveal what she thought of that.

“How could Emma be able to break it? She was a baby when it was cast.” Ruby asked, indignant on behalf of her friend—why did these people think Emma could fix all their problems?

Faye gave her a sharp and knowing look that cowed the girl slightly before she lifted her chin in defiance. “Besides the fact that they hope her being of Snow’s bloodline will allow her to reverse the spell? There’s a prophecy.”

Silence fell as the students’ eyes grew wide. “A prophecy?” Mary Margaret said, hushed, like a little kid listening to a suspenseful fairytale.

“Yes,” Faye agreed, her eyes twinkling as though she were in a good secret. “A prophecy was made that Emma would be the savior to those afflicted by the spell only a month after the tragedy with Red Fist.”

“Wow,” Mary Margaret replied. “When does Emma save everyone? What does she have to do?”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Emma said, holding her hands up. Her voice was a bit weak from shock as she asked, “A prophecy? Prophecy’s are real? And you think there’s one about me?”

“Of course, they are,” Faye replied. “And I don’t think, I _know_ there’s one about you. When I’m not as sure about. I think ti will be soon though, the spell is starting to have side effects that are becoming…difficult to mediate.” She smiled and placed her hand over Emma’s, “Don’t worry, sweetheart, I have every faith in. We’ll figure this out together.”

Emma did not feel reassured by this statement. She didn’t want to be held responsible for people lives like this. She was a second away from bolting when someone else stopped by the table.

“Faye?” It was Granny, Emma didn’t think she’d ever been more relieved to see someone in your life.

The older woman smiled at Faye, “I didn’t know you were in town.”

“Eugenia,” Faye replied, standing up from her seat to speak with her. “So good to see you.”

“You as well,” Granny peered around her to the students. “I see you’ve met Emma.”

“Yes, we were just talking—I’m afraid Leroy gave her and her friends a bit of scare.”

Granny’s eyes widened,” Well then I’m glad you were here to help.”

“Of course, I’ll go talk with him and make sure he remembers to respect that Emma is young—you know how they can be about kids since they never were young like that.”

Granny frowned, “Yes, I do. Make sure he remembers or I’ll go talk to him myself.”

“I will,” Faye promised. She turned back to the teenagers, “I’m sorry but I really must be going. It was a pleasure meeting you Emma—and you as well,” she added to the others.

Everyone murmured their goodbyes, too surprised by the sudden change in the conversation to say much else. With a crack, the witch apparated away. Emma stared where the woman once was, wondering how everything had changed so quickly. 


	13. Separation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Regina - Year 4  
> Emma - Year 3

Chapter 13: Separation

 

Regina hoped her shock didn’t show when she returned home from winter break for all she knew the scar did. Her friends hadn’t said anything and yet Regina felt like she was being haunted by the memory. As she went to classes and as she tried to sleep in her bed at night, everywhere was the knowledge of what had happened whispering in her ear. Every time she looked in the mirror and saw the scar badly healed by a witch who wasn’t a healer.

Daniel jumping in front of her mother, Regina trying to pull him away. The curse that hit her in the face. Pleading with mother to obliviate him instead. Mother’s false acquiescence to her request for mercy, Daniel’s screams of pain, the ash falling to the floor. His wide unseeing eyes.

Tears leaked from her eyes silently. All he had done was see something he shouldn’t have, that and dared to kiss her—Mother had tortured that out of him. Regina still had bruises from her own punishment, for all she hadn’t felt them at the time. Mother refusing to heal her lip until it was too late to fully repair the damage was another. She was at school now and should heal the bruises herself, someone might notice, but she felt she deserved the reminder—she was still here to feel them, whereas Daniel….

Regina let out a cry of anger that she as glad the soundproofing around Ravenclaw beds allowed. She whipped her streaming eyes. What could she do now? She’d always suspected Mother had killed people, but now she had seen it with her own eyes. She’d let that happen, for all fighting against Mother was impossible. She couldn’t tell anyone, she couldn’t find any justice for the sweet boy she’d cared for.

What could she do?

The question preyed upon her mind all semester, even as she resorted back to sleep potions at least once a week to get some respite from her nightmares.

Eventually, she came to the conclusion that while she couldn’t help Daniel, she could help herself. Papi was just as trapped as she was, so he couldn’t help, but she could start working towards her independence. Mother’s influence in the Ministry was something she didn’t know how to combat, but she could focus on smaller, practical things. If she wanted to escape from Mother after Hogwarts, she’d need money and her belongings because the first thing Mother would do if she disobeyed was cut her off. That meant what she could work on was finding a way to keep her potions money safe and keep her few belongs safe from Mother’s reach.

Regina began to plan.

-x-x-x-

Soon after summer break started, Regina walked in to Gringotts as confidently as she was able to. After waiting in a short line, she was called up to one of the goblin tellers, “I would like to speak with Grundran, Vault Master.”

Goblin’s were said to appreciate brevity although she could tell if that was true. Regardless the goblin she spoke to merely nodded and said, “This way, ma’am,” as he got down from his high stool.

She was shown to the small office she’d only been to once with her mother a few years ago. Regina had considered requesting a different goblin than the one her family already worked with in the hopes that she could hide the new vault she hoped to open from her mother. She had discarded that idea quickly, keeping something like that from goblins, whose job it was to manage wizard gold and assets, was silly. The straight forward approach it was.

Regina sat down in the plush, yet still somehow uncomfortable chair opposite Grundran’s desk. He had looked up as she came in and was eyeing her closely, “Miss Navar, what brings you to the Vaults today?”

Once more, Regina tried to cut right to the heart of the matter, “I would like to open a new vault. One in my name alone.”

If the goblin was at all surprised at the first request, he was more so at the second. It was the most surprised she’d ever seen a goblin, even if all he did was pull back in his chair a bit further. “As I understand it, you are considered a minor, Miss Navar, among wizarding kind.”

Regina dodged the question, “I wish to have separate funds, ones my mother cannot influence.”

Grundran could not be so easily distracted. “Any account opened by a minor wand-carrier is subject to oversight by their guardian. Are you emancipated?” he asked, his facial expression clearly demonstrating that he already knew the answer.

Regina gritted her teeth, but answered truthfully anyway, “No.”

“How would you have money that was not received from your guardian originally?” the goblin asked pointedly. “You see, many young wizards _claim_ to have their own money, but it is often money given to them by their parents, in which case, it is still considered their parents’ money.”

He looked at her rather severely over the rims of his glasses, “Money belongs in the hand of those who earn it, young witch.” It was the first thing he’d said that had any real inflection.

Regina had hoped the conversation would go in this direction, she’d prepared for this. “I have a separate income stream, unconnected with my parents, and I do not want my mother to be able to interfere with it.”

Now he seemed more considering despite still remaining skeptical if his raised eyebrows and steepled long fingers were any indication. “And how do you earn this gold?”

“The sale of potions. I am skilled in the subject and sell to other students at Hogwarts. I have brought proof of the business, if that would be helpful,” Regina reached down into her bag to pull out her ledger. “However, I do not want to share this information if gaining an independent vault is not possible.”

She suddenly felt she finally held Grundran’s attention. He spoke slowly, considering his words carefully, “Under unique circumstances, such a vault could be permitted. Particularly since all your family vaults are in Gringotts and we can verify the money is not coming from there.”

Regina started to smile at that, relieved that he seemed to be able to do what she was asking. “However,” he continued, “we do not want to open a vault only to close it in a few months when something catches new your eye, how do we know you will be a loyal customer?”

This was something Abby had told her about. Gringotts wanted long term customers, that was why it gave such good service to the older families, despite their attitudes. They wanted wealth to be here, not merely money in and out. “I plan to save this money for after I graduate and want to live on my own,” Regina explained. “I have no plans to spend it on anything beyond a few necessities and to procure more materials for my business.”

“I see,” he said, obviously thinking over all she had said.

Regina could tell the goblin was still not convinced and she knew what was left to seal this deal – a bribe. “There is something else. To show my gratitude for such an allowance, I would present Gringotts with this.” Regina pulled a flask with inlaid jewels from her bag. It was her fathers—an old heirloom of some sort—and of no interest to her mother.

Grundran’s eyes were fixated on the flask and he reached for it automatically. “Goblin made, I see.”

“Yes, it’s an heirloom from my father’s family.” She closed the remaining distance and handed it to him. “His great-uncle had won it in a contest against Rokruk the Risky. He cheated,” Regina said flatly. “I would see it returned.”

Without taking his hand or his eyes from the flask, Grundran held out his other hand, “Your business records?”

Regina handed over her leather binder after muttering the spell to decode it, “I have my written records of orders I received, who the customer was, the price I charged, and when I was paid. I also have copies of my order forms with various apothecaries. I brought half of the gold I wish to store in a vault today. If we can come to a satisfactory agreement, I will deposit the rest at the end of the week.”

Grundran took the binder and began to look through it while Regina fought against the urge to wring her hands. No one had ever seen her records. Finally, he reached the final page which listed her total amount earned. She couldn’t see his face, but when he looked up he seemed to eye Regina with greater respect than before. “An impressive venture for one so young.” Regina couldn’t help flushing at the praise. “What are you looking for in a vault?”

“A small vault is fine to start with, although I would like the ability to upgrade to something deeper in a year,” she said automatically, having put a lot of thought into it. “I will also likely store some sensitive potions in my vault so I will need it to be suited for that purpose aside from merely gold storage. I would also like to have the ability to send money directly from my vault to pay for certain business expenses.”

“However,” her tone grew more serious and she could see Grundran notice that, leaning forward ever so slightly more. “In the end, my primary concern is privacy. I want my vault and its contents to be at my sole discretion, with no way for my Mother to interfere or gain access to it. In fact, I do not want her to have knowledge of its existence. This aspect should supersede all others in terms of importance.”

Grundran stared at her for a long moment before his eyes hardened and a dangerous smirk crossed his face, “That can be arranged.”

He reached out and they shook on it. He pushed her records back to her and began drawing forms from his drawers. “If you are the sole owner, then we would require a valid will drafted. We dislike loose ends.”

Regina hadn’t considered that. Quick thinking said she couldn’t leave the money to Papi, that would be the same as giving it to Mother. “I do not have anyone I wish to leave the funds to. Could I arrange to have it donated?”

“Of course,” Grundran said promptly. “I will acquire the necessary paperwork. Once that is complete, I will show you to your vault.”

“Thank you for your cooperation.”

-x-x-x-

Regina left the bank, blinking in the sunlight and finally feeling like she was making progress towards becoming independent. Now, she had one other task to complete—the one she had told her parents when requesting to make the trip.

She first stopped for a bit of tea at Rosa Lee Teabag, partially to celebrate and partially to give herself a brief breather between important decisions.

Feeling refreshed and steadier, Regina turned down to Carkitt Market, window shopping on her way to her destination: Stowe & Packers Magical Bags. She turned up the stairs near a junk shop and went through the little blue door.

As her eyes adjusted to the softer, recessed lighting in the shop, her hearing adjusted to the sudden hush. Contrary to their name, Stowe & Packers sold much more than simply bags. Cases, trunks, even storage carts on wheels, were tastefully arranged throughout the store.

She began to slowly walk along one wall, looking at all the trunks on display. It started with basic models, similar to what she already had. She wanted to upgrade her trunk to make it more secure and help her organize all the potions ingredients she now regularly bought and stored. She had carefully damaged her trunk enough that Mother declared it embarrassing, at which she asked if she could buy a new one from Diagon Alley. Her mother had agreed, so long as she paid for it with left over school spending money or her father’s money.

Finally, after getting past both the regular trunks and the luxury ones, she reached the ones with magical enhancements of various kinds beyond typical shrinking stability charms, lightweight charms and so on.

Then she reached the correct section—the trunks with multiple compartments. Starting at one extra compartment and working their way up to nine, each trunk had two or more locks and each lock opened a different compartment, despite seemingly taking up the same amount of space as traditional trunks.

On top of being easier to manage than multiple trunks, it also would allow her to keep different items separate from each other—a very helpful feature for someone with a number of potions and potions ingredients. At least two sets of robes, a sheaf of parchment, and three books had been damaged on her journey home from school this year.

A man in his late-forties seemed to finish cleaning the stock and spot her. “Hello, Miss. What can I do for you today? I see you are looking at our T.R.D.S. Trunks, bewitched to be larger on the inside than they appear to be from the outside and which allow you to carry at least double what you can fit in an ordinary trunk.”

“Yes, Mr…” she looked at his name tag, “Leston. Can you explain the difference between the models? I’m looking for a two or three compartment trunk.”

Mr. Leston was very forthcoming explain the different styles and features they offered. Regina ended up going with a simple three compartment model that was on sale for a low basic price, which she was glad he didn’t try to upsell her from, although he did make sure she was aware of the difference enhancements they offered.

Regina decided against any additional lightweight charms beyond the one which made it no heavier than an average of each of the three compartments weight, shrinking ease charms, or easy float charms—she could levitate it herself if need be. She did pay a bit extra for a watertight sealling spell, not making any potions to leak into the other compartments as well as an insert which made it easy to create smaller sections in one of the compartments.

“What would you like to do as far as locking goes?” Mr. Leston asked, as they made their way to the counter, rolling the trunk. “For a couple extra galleons, we’ll put on a standard lock with an anti-alohomora charms and spells to resist the physical remove of the lock. We offer a few more advanced varieties as well.”

“No thank you,” Regina declined. “I’ll be putting getting specialty locks made for it.”

“Of course,” he said with a bow before hefting the trunk onto the counter. “Then allow me to write out your bill.”

After she received her trunk, pre-shrunk at her request, she turned off of Horizant Alley, through an archway and found herself at the first shop into Knockturn Alley. She pushed on the sturdy oak door and into the shop with “Trackleshanks Locksmith” written above the doorway.

Regina looked around the shop once her eyes adjusted and saw the only shop assistant was busy finishing up with a customer. So she turned to the display shelves and spent a few moments looking at the variety of locks on display.

Once the assistant had finished ringing up the only other customer, she turned to speak to Regina only for the man she’d previously been helping to continue to make small talk. A brief apologetic glance was all she gave Regina, but it was enough for her to get the point across. Regina sighed lightly to herself, but merely hovered nearby and continued to study the house keys which never failed to reappear in one’s pockets.

After another few minutes of the man showing no sign of letting up and the young woman’s smile looking very brittle on her face, Regina was finally thoroughly annoyed. When she caught the shop assistant’s eyes, the assistant gave a slight nod. When the man finished his current sentence about the Quidditch team his brother was on the reserves for, the brunette spoke up, “I’m sorry Mr. Webb, but I simply don’t follow Quidditch that closely.”

As the man’s smug smile froze on his face, she continued, “And, I apologize, but unless you have any questions regarding your new key ring, I really must help the next customer.” She tilted her head towards Regina.

Already scowling over the fact that he hadn’t managed to impress her with his Quidditch connections, he turned to see Regina standing only a few feet from them. “Come on now, Silvia. This girl isn’t a customer, let alone a valued one like myself. What could she possibly be after? A new lock for her diary?”

Regina froze at the abrupt dismissal, the most degrading one she’d had to suffer this entire trip. She’d been feeling so competent and mature this whole excursion, handling her own affairs.

Then, she got angry. No, she refused to let this idiot cow her. She drew herself up and levelled the most unimpressed expression she could muster, “And what could you know of my affairs? You can’t even tell when someone isn’t interested, can you?”

The man’s face went red and he reached for his wand, “Why you little b—”

“Mr. Webb!” Regina had let her own wand drop into her hand as soon as he started to raise his voice to her, but now both sets of eyes went to Silvia.

She had her own wand out and the tip was glowing faintly although she wasn’t pointing it at anyone—yet. “I must remind you that dueling is expressly prohibited within our shop. You are disrupting today’s business. Leave.”

Mr. Webb looked at the shop assistant for a beat too long for Regina’s comfort before he drew himself up haughtily, “As if I’d duel a child,” he shot Regina another poisonous look, “especially one so far out their depths. However, make no mistake, I will be speaking with Mr. Trankleshanks regarding the method in which you conduct business in his absence.” He glared at each of them before sweeping out, head high.

The shop door closed with a light bell chime and the atmosphere lightened considerably with his absence. Regina slid her wand back into her sleeve. Silvia kept hers out, but only to summon a small notebook. “My apologies about that ruckus,” she said, customer service voice restored, although a twinkle in her suggested she was glad to have had a reason to kick that man out.

She ushered Regina over to one of the table set ups for conducting business. “Now, why don’t you take a seat, sweetheart? You look as though you have something specific in mind.”

“Yes, thank you.” Regina pulled out the shrunken trunk and gestured to the table, “May I?”

“Of course,” Silvia replied, pulling her glasses up from the chain on her neck and placing them on her nose.

Regina tapped the trunk to enlarge it, both women leaned back as it expanded to its full size.

“Well then, I see. Not exactly a diary needing a lock against a younger sibling, now is it?”

Regina laughed, “Not exactly. I’m hoping to find something covert for a lock.”

Silvia frowned as she studied the trunk, “Covert how? Completely hidden, or merely inconspicuous?”

“I’m not certain,” Regina admitted. Locksmithing was a much more secretive art than either trunk styles or how best to approach goblins, so she wasn’t able to do as much preparation for this stop on her trip. “I would like someone to be able to look at the trunk, including minimal magical analysis and probing, and believe it has a simple locking mechanism—not something necessarily easily done with an unlocking charm, but nothing too serious either.”

“But you want the actual lock to be quite robust,” Silvia inferred.

Regina nodded, “Exactly.” That was the best way to keep Mother out, to have it appear as though she could get in if she wanted to. If mother saw her come home with an extremely strong and complicated lock, which Regina then refused to give her the key for, she would demand it.

Silvia got a considering look on her face, “A simple enhancement would be to add a blood lock to it, so only members of your bloodline would be able to open it.”

“I was hoping that could be the obvious lock,” Regina countered.

“I see,” Silvia said frowning, making notations in her notebook. “That’s certainly doable. Its common enough, if pricier than some of the very basics options. Many use it as one their work bags and such, particularly those who have trouble remembering things. We can set that up in a matter of minutes and tailor it to you and yours quickly. That would leave the matter of the real lock though.”

Regina nodded, “Can we set it up so the different compartments appear to have the same lock, when in fact they do not?”

“Yes, we can do that,” Silvia agreed, before showing her a write-up of what they had decided upon so far. “Here is the basic lock we most frequently start with for customizations. It comes with standard physical force anti-removal charms, worked into the metal here, see? Then we layer in anti-welding, and other similar common work arounds.”

She flipped to the next page which had a diagram on it, “Next, we’d add in the blood magic spellwork, starting with a sample of your own blood. Once set up, you merely need to touch and the lock and say your name—none of that old-fashioned needing to prick yourself every time you want to open the lock although you need to refresh it once a month, unless you go for a pricier version. Anyone in your bloodline however, can offer up their blood, not much is needed, and they too can simply say your name and touch the lock to open it up.”

“Alright, once a month is fine. I’d like that to be the lock for the first compartment and for it to appear to be the lock on the other two as well.”

“Understood. We can put false mechanisms that seem real for the other two compartments but have them both be blood locks for the first compartment. You won’t be able to tell unless you try to use them and the first compartment opens instead of the one you were expecting.”

“Brilliant,” Regina said with feeling. Silvia smiled causing Regina to blush so she hastily said, “Can we hide the true locks?”

“Of course, we can also combine a number of different lock types. That’s typically a good tactic for a complex lock. I believe I have a draft of the mechanism you might want,” Silvia announced.

She pulled out a larger piece of paper and transferred her smaller image to it. As Regina beant over the examine it, Silvia explained, “First we hide the true lock, we can make it so a panel appears when you physically manipulate the trunk in some way as you say a password and then reveal a panel, a number combination or a word. Follow that with a physical key. Transfigured into something that doesn’t look like a key, if you’d prefer. All of this we can make so that it must be you and only you preforming the steps.”

Regina thought that over, it would take some extra time to open, but it sounds like it would worth it. “Sounds good.”

“Alright, I can get started on this right away, but it will take a couple hours. Here is a basic summary of the work and the price, does this appear acceptable?” Silvia handed her a second slip of paper.

From when Regina was passing the time when she had originally entered the shop, she had gotten a good handle on the shop’s prices. The figure was a little higher than she would have liked, but it was also the most important security measure. She supposed that sale on the trunk helped balance out the cost of the lock. “Yes, that’s agreeable.”

“Wonderful,” Silvia said with a smile and lead her to the counter. “If you can please pay half upfront and the rest once you’ve seen the work and are satisfied.” Regina pulled out her money pouch and counted out the first payment. “You just come back in approximately, oh, three hours, sweetheart. It will be all ready for you and I’ll walk you through the whole thing. Any last minute adjustments can be made then.

“Thank you,” Regina said as she shook Silvia’s hand and headed out the door.

While Regina waited for the lock to be designed and set up, she went to numerous apothecary shops, checking prices, evaluating ingredients quality, and inquiring about shipping availability.

 _Mulligrubs Materia Medica_ ’s owner proved most helpful and Regina set up an order for the beginning of the school year that she should be able to repeat as needed. Madame Gligan was even able to recommend a few herbalist guides Regina hadn’t heard of for research, which Regina thanked her for. Overall, Regina decided to switch most of her herb orders to this shop instead of _Dogweed and Deathcap_ in Hogsmeade—who’s owner did not like her and refused to do remote orders.

 _Slug & Jiggers Apothecary_ was the best of the other formal apothecaries in the shopping district when it came to non-herb ingredients and the cheapest, so she also was able to get on their mailing list to be alerted when certain stock came in and how best to order by owl.

When she realized she still had more time to kill, she perused _Madam Primpernelle’s Beautifying Potions_ , as there were always a few students who came to her for acne potions instead of Madame Pomfrey or buying them from a similar shop. She got a few new ideas for how best to tailor her own potions, as the personalization is still what made hers so effective.

 _Pippin’s Potions_ had a branch in Hogsmeade, so she was already familiar with their stock and prices, as she was also still fine-tuning how much she charged. _Potions for All Afflictions_ had a few uncommon potions she hadn’t thought to offer yet, so she made some careful notes to look up how difficult they were to make, although they were a bit closer to healing potions than she was often comfortable getting.

Finally, it was time to pick up her trunk and its new locks, before heading home in time for dinner.

Silvia looked up as soon as Regina walked in, for all that there was no bell. “Ah, Miss Navar, perfect timing. Your trunk is all set. Let me just show you the current combination and how to change it to what you want later.”

She ushered Regina to the back room where her trunk sat, complete with shiny new locks. Silvia gave a quick demonstration of the blood locks and set them up so they were tied to Regina before she moved on to explain the other locks.

“First,” Silvia began, “You trace a pattern on each end of the trunk—simultaneously. We have it set to a simple circle right now, but you can change it once you’ve fully unlocked the trunk by repeating the pattern of the inside and then tracing the next pattern on the outside.” She demonstrated what she meant, using her pointer finger on each hand to draw identical circles on the wood of the trunk.

“Then you press these two buckles,” she continued, pressing the buckles of the belts that wrapped around over the top of the trunk. A quick click was heard and the front panel of the trunk slid away to reveal a combination lock which consisted of a full wheel of letters and a two-digit number wheel in the middle of the letter wheel.

“For this, you will need a pass phrase and each letter will correspond with a number. Currently it is set to “Lock, 1234”.” She spun the wheel so that ‘l’ was selected on the letter wheel and then the middle numbers were set to ‘01’. “You press the false blood lock of the compartment you wish to open after each letter. If you press two different compartments, the panel will immediately become hidden and you’ll need to start over.”

She continued to put in the password and after the final letter and number, then entire wheel pushed forward, revealing a key hole. Silvia held up a small bronze token, which was similar to a coin except that it had a tree inscribed on it. The branches which made up the top of the tree were carved completely free of the coin though and that was what she pressed into the key hole. Despite not looking like the correct shape at all, the token fit in and stuck. “This is the key we have designed, it can be put on a necklace or inside a pouch for safe keeping. The illusion of a traditional key hole is false but will not be detected by any except for a skilled locksmith.”

“Finally, the key is set right now so that you need to twist it in a complete circle and then halfway to the right and then to left,” Silvia said, doing so as she spoke. Finally, the lid lifted up by itself and revealed the third compartment. “All of these can be changed according to your wishes, typically by putting in the old combination or password when the lid is open and then putting in whatever you wish the new password to be.”

“Any questions?”

Regina was still trying to absorb all that Silvia had just shown her. It was perfect. “This seems like exactly what I was looking for. Can you write down what the current settings are? I don’t want to forget before I have a change to reset them.”

“Here,” Silvia handed Regina a small hand-made booklet.

Regina glanced through it quickly, noting how clear and comprehensive it was, it even included drawings. “Perfect.” Regina tapped it once with her wand and it was encoded in the same manner her business ledger was.

“Neat encoder,” Silvia commented.

Regina flushed at the compliment, “Thank you.”

Silvia smiled and then shut took the key from its slot. Instantly, the lid fell down and the letter wheel retracted into the trunk and the hidden panel slid back into place. The trunk once more looked as though the only locking mechanism in place were the blood locks. “Then you are all set.”

Regina thanked her and paid happily. As she left to head home with her new purchase, she was smiling—she had never truly felt like she had anything entirely alone or entirely private before. It was wonderful to feel even that small amount of safe.


	14. The Prophecy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Emma - Summer after Year 3  
> Regina - Summer after Year 4

Emma was in the living room messing with the fan and trying to fix the dial, which currently couldn’t be moved higher than “low” when the doorbell rang. “Danny! Can you get that?”

“Fine!” her foster brother replied from the kitchen where he was pouring a bowl of cereal.

He ran over to the door and pulled it open before Emma could remind him to check the peep hole first. “Uh, yeah?” he asked sounding a bit taken aback and Emma rolled her eyes even as she stayed where she was. Hopefully it wasn’t a pushy salesman—those were annoying to get rid of, they kept asking to speak with an adult and couldn’t seem to comprehend that there wasn’t one.

“I…Excuse me, does Emma White live here?” a high and also rather taken aback female voice asked.

Emma froze even as Danny replied, “Emma’s here, but her name is Swan. Right, Emma?!” he called from the doorway.

Emma was already dropping the fan parts she’d been messing with and running around to the front door. She skidded into view causing Danny and the woman she could now see was in fact Faye Sapphire. “Ms. Sapphire! What are you doing here?”

“You know this lady?” Danny asked, clearly eyeing Faye’s two-piece navy suit-skirt and general demeanor with skepticism and wondering how she could possibly know Emma.

Emma flushed before she walked closer to the door and flashed a nervous smile at Ms. Sapphire. “Yes, she, uh, she helps out at the school I go to. Why don’t you go finish in the kitchen?” he opened his mouth to protest, obviously far more interested in whatever this was before Emma shot him a strong enough glare that he looked away.

“Fine, whatever,” he said, before he shuffled down the hallway and out of sight.

Emma turned back to Ms. Sapphire with another shaky smile. Emma knew she should probably invite her in, but she really didn’t want to show her considering how messy the place was. Emma was suddenly very aware of the old tank top and shorts she was wearing. “Um, why don’t we talk outside?” Emma suggested. “I wasn’t expecting you, so I think it’s a bit messy in there, besides all the kids are muggles.”

Ms. Sapphire smiled kindly at her, “Of course, Emma. Whatever makes you most comfortable.”

“Great! Let me just grab my bag,” Emma said, feeling almost naked without her wand in the presence of another witch.

Emma ran back to her room she was currently sharing, grabbing her bag, and Paint jumping onto her shoulder as she did so. She ignored all of her foster brother’s question and simply called, “be back later!”

Ms. Sapphire was waiting on the cement steps for the girl when she came out, “Why don’t we go down the street to the café there?”

She started walking without waiting for an answer and Emma moved to walk next to her, too bewildered about why the older witch was even here to protest beyond, “What about the muggles there?”

Ms. Sapphire laughed, “Muggles never listen properly. How’s your summer going?”

“Alright,” Emma said, she still couldn’t figure out why Ms. Sapphire would be here and it was making her tense. “This place isn’t so bad. Um, why are you here? How did you even know where I live?”

“I have some connections in the muggle world,” she held open the door to the café for Emma. “I’ll explain further once we sit down, can I treat you to a drink?”

Emma was distracted by the offer of free food until they were sitting down at a small table in the back corner, hot chocolate and bear claw in front of her. Ms. Sapphire always looked so put-together and Emma tried to copy her manners as the other witch daintily sipped her coffee.

“Now, the reason I’m visiting is about the spell we discussed the last time we saw each other in Hogsmeade, the one affecting your parents’ friends.”

Emma swallowed, somehow, she knew it would be that. “Is it getting worse?”

“I’m afraid so,” Ms. Sapphire admitted. “Two of the witches and a wizard were just admitted into the muggle hospital due to falling into comas. We considered having them moved to St. Mungo’s but to be honest, it wouldn’t make a difference.”

“That’s terrible,” Emma said, she thought she’d have more time before she needed to deal with all of this. “What can I do to help though?”

“I think you and I should attempt to break the spell,” Ms. Sapphire replied calmly. “Soon.”

“Really? When?”

“How about tomorrow?”

Emma stared at her, “What? Tomorrow?”

“Yes, I think the situation is getting exponentially worse by the day as we approach the fourteenth anniversary of the spell first being cast. I know its still a couple months away, but I fear by then it might be too late.”

“Do you really think I can help?” Emma asked, unable to keep her doubts to herself. She knew from Hogwarts she was an alright witch, but to help lift as spell like this…

“I’m sure you can. The prophecy says so,” Ms. Sapphire replied with far more confidence than Emma felt. “I can’t do this without you.”

“Alright, okay. I want to help,” Emma agreed.

“Wonderful,” Ms. Sapphire said with a smile. “I knew you wouldn’t let me down.” She seemed not to notice Emma’s uncomfortable twitch at her words. “I’ll come pick you up tomorrow, how does noon sound? Then I can take you along with me to the mine and we can break the spell.”

Emma didn’t know why Ms. Sapphire was so sure they could break this spell when no one had for years, but she didn’t say anything. “okay, yeah. Why don’t we just break it now?”

Ms. Sapphire’s smile turned patronizing, “I’ll need some time to pull together what we need for the spell, I wasn’t sure if you’d agree or when we’d be able to it.”

“Oh! Of course, yeah. I don’t really have a lot of plans over the summer.”

“Oh, well I suppose that’s good luck for me, isn’t?” Ms. Sapphire gave a little laugh.

“Do I need to do anything to prepare?” Emma asked, feeling like there must be something. Ms. Sapphire was throwing her off by how casual she was being about the entire thing. Emma could still remember the desperation in Leroy’s face and the sadness in Marco’s. Ms. Sapphire might as well be talking about getting her house newly painted and not breaking a curse that had lasted years.

Emma wanted to show that she was taking this seriously, that Ms. Sapphire didn’t have to down play that so as not to scare Emma, “My friends and I have been looking into—”

“Oh, no, sweetheart,” Ms. Sapphire waved her questions away. “I’ll handle everything, all you need is make the time to come.”

Emma looked at her blankly, “Right. If you say so.”

Emma felt rather dazed and while they talked a little longer, she couldn’t even remember what had been said. She went home and ignored her foster brother’s questions, locking herself in her room while she tried to go over everything they’re researched about breaking curses and blood magic. She feel asleep over the books despite her nerves.

Her nerves were also what woke her up the next day, feeling like she was late, only to see she had hours until she was to meet the other witch. Her foster family was making her jittery though and so she dressed and left as early as she could.

Eventually it was time and Emma began heading for the café to meet Ms. Sapphire again, already regretting her decision to wear her jeans, even if they were nicer than her shorts. She hoped she didn’t look too sweaty when she arrived.

“Wonderful, Miss White,” Ms. Sapphire said when she saw Emma leaning against a tree waiting for her. She smiled at Emma and Emma blushed, deciding to ignore the fact that Ms. Sapphire couldn’t seem to remember Emma’s last name due to the compliment. “I’m so glad you’re on time.”

“Hi, yeah, of course,” Emma stumbled over her words a bit, never used to praise from an adult. “I wouldn’t want to miss this.”

Ms. Sapphire laughed, “You can’t miss it since I can’t do this without you.”

Emma frowned a little at that, it pinged strangely to her inner lie detector, not a full-on lie, but not the whole story. Emma shrugged it off, it was probably just because Ms. Sapphire needed other things besides Emma. “Anything to help.”

Ms. Sapphire continued to smile at her, “Here, lets go behind the store and I’ll apparate us where we need to go.”

Ms. Sapphire went first down a side street and Emma followed. Once they were alone, Ms. Sapphire cast a subtle disillusionment charm over both them, which felt very strange. Emma frowned, she should have thought to bring the invisibility cloak. _Oh well_ , Emma thought as the older witch offered Emma her arm, “Come here, I’ll take you along with me.”

Emma moved to do as she was asked, trying to remember what she knew about side-long apparition. All she remembered was Mary Margaret saying she didn’t like it and that she preferred using the Floo network.

Ms. Sapphire linked their arms, “Ready?” Emma nodded, trying to keep her nerves from showing on her face. “Good, let’s go.”

Suddenly the ground fell away and everything went blurry. Emma felt like she was being pressed tighter and tighter, the world around them disappearing. Emma wasn’t claustrophobic but if this lasted any long she would be. It felt like being squeezed and then shoved through a tunnel that got narrow and narrower. She didn’t if she could open her mouth to scream, but she was going to anyway.

Then the ground was back, the pressure was gone, and she was panting. She felt like she was going to throw up. By contrast, Ms. Sapphire looked perfectly fine as she leaned over Emma, “Are you alright, sweetheart? I know apparition can be a bit hard to handle the first time.”

“Yeah,” Emma lied, her voice weak. “I’m—” she panted. “I’m fine. Yeah, fine.”

Ms. Sapphire patted her on the back, “You did very well. You let me know when you feel better and we’ll continue.”

“Continue?” Emma asked as her head slowly stopped spinning. Were they going to apparate again? Because Emma was not okay with that.

“Yes, the cavern we’ll be doing the spell in is further into the mine.” Abruptly, Emma aware that they were in a dim and cool cave, lit only by torches on the walls. A moist breeze hit her face and she couldn’t tell which direction was even towards the surface. “It’s a short walk this way. I would have apparated closer, but its not a good idea to use strong magic so close to the crystals.”

“Uh, right,” Emma said, if this was apparition gone right, she didn’t even want to know how it felt when it got messed up. “yeah, I’m good, we can start walking.”

“Wonderful,” Ms. Sapphire said with a smile.

Emma started to follow her, wondering when the woman’s muggle clothes had changed to her usual blue robes. Emma wished she’d been able to bring wizarding clothes too. It felt wrong to go to perform a serious spell in her muggle T-shirt and ratty jeans. She was glad she’d worn trousers though since it was so cool in the cave.

Emma realized she’d been lost in her own thoughts and that while she was distracted Ms Sapphire had almost disappeared from view. Emma jogged to catch up to her and they both emerged into a large chamber studded with glittering crystals.

“Is that…” Emma began.

“The magical crystal colloquially known as ‘fairy dust’?” Ms. Sapphire finished for her. “Yes, in its raw form. The majority of this vein has been mined already.”

Emma looked around with even greater interest. Her and her friends had done what research they could over the rest of their third year after meeting Ms. Sapphire the first time. Mary Margaret was the one who did the fairy dust research since she’d heard of it before. Fairy dust was a powder of the magical crystal which studded these walls. It was a generic power enhancer—adding it to a potion or adding to magical objects or even having some on your wand or hands when casting a spell would strengthen the spell, making it last longer or be more effective. How strong the effects were varied by account and it was pretty rare—not to mention only dwarves could mine and handle it in its raw form competently.

A short man came out of one of the other tunnels and joined them in the main room. He gave Emma a brief nod, but didn’t introduce himself, just watched her with intent eyes. David had done the dwarf research, some of which Emma still found strange—this man looked like a short human, not someone born out of an egg. He interrupted her own staring to say, “We’re having trouble finding a new vein at the moment since Doc is cursed—he’s the one who knew how.”

Emma nodded, from what it had sounded like, each dwarf in a clutch was born with a specialized skill, if some of them were cursed, then the mine must not be functioning very well. Maybe that was another reason Leroy was worried enough to be drunk in the middle of the day. Or maybe he was just a drunk—she’d known enough foster parents who were like that.

“Yes,” Ms. Sapphire agreed with the dwarf. “Yet another reason time is of the essence.” She turned to give Emma a smile, “I’m so glad you agreed to help, we couldn’t do this without you.”

Emma fidgeted with her hair, uncomfortable with the attention and expectation, “Yeah, of course.”

Ms. Sapphire just smiled at her without seeming to notice her discomfort whereas the dwarf gave her a concerned look, as if he had been expecting more from her. Ms. Sapphire didn’t seem to notice and said, “This should be a good place to lift the spell since it was cast in these caves all those years ago.”

She waved Emma over to a specific part of the floor which had a large diagram carved into it. Emma recognized some of the symbols from Charms class and some from Ancient Runes, but not enough to identify more than a few pieces here and there. In Ancient Runes, they’d really only studied the basics so far and Charms tended to give broad overviews of spell diagrams but they’re weren’t covered in much detail since students didn’t invent their own spells.

As she studied the diagram, out of the corner of her eye, she saw the dwarf go over to the other side of the cavern. Emma squinted after him and tried to identify the shapes she was seeing. Without realizing it, she followed him since she hadn’t been close enough to make out what was there. After a few meters though, she could see that there were a series of pedestals with figures on them. Some sort of statues?

Suddenly, it clicked in her mind: those were the cursed dwarves. Three short male figures and one child figure were arranged on beds of a kind. For a few seconds, she thought they were dead even though she knew they must not be. She wished they’d twitch or snore the way normal people did when they slept. Every other foster kid she’d shared a room with did lie on their back, still as stone—it was incredibly unsettling.

“Emma?” Ms. Sapphire asked, calling Emma over to her with just her name.

Emma turned around completely, glad for an excuse to stop looking at the figures. They gave her the creeps and were almost painful to look at. “Yes, Ms. Sapphire?”

“It’s almost time to begin,” Ms. Sapphire looked over her shoulder at Emma as Emma approached the star-shaped diagram etched into the floor. “Are you ready?”

“I guess,” Emma said as she came to stand next to the other witch. “Should I be doing something to get ready?”

Ms. Sapphire gave a little laugh, “No, just being here is all I need from you. You’ll be standing over there,” she gestured to one of the five points. “I’ll be reading from this parchment and you will be reciting the end portion of the enchantment with me. It’s very simple, _Excito Pro Tempus_.”

“That’s it?” Emma said skeptically, she looked at the parchment which was written in a fancy script she could hardly read. “It looks a lot longer than that.”

Ms. Sapphire smiled indulgently, “It is, but you only need to join in at the end, I’ll be reciting the entire spell and I’ll be using some fairy dust to power the spell.” Ms. Sapphire pointed to the small mound of dust in the center of the diagram and tapped the small pouch that hung from her waist. Emma realized she’d always had that on her.

Emma chewed her lip even as Ms. Sapphire went back to whatever preparation she was doing. It sounded too simple and yet even that Emma felt she might screw up. “Can I have a copy?”

“Hm?”

“Of the spell, I don’t want to say the wrong thing,” Emma explained, feeling very foolish for even asking, but not wanting to mess up even more.

Ms. Sapphire gave her a surprised and then a considering look before she shrugged. “I suppose if you’re that worried.” She pulled out her wand and made a square shape in the air as she said, “ _Effingo_.” An exact duplicate of the parchment materialized next to the original and she handed it to Emma. “here you are. Now, please go stand over there. If you have the entire spell, that should make it easier for you to know when to join in.”

She shooed Emma over when she paused to read the parchment. Once Emma was at one of the points of the star and Ms. Sapphire was opposite her near the center point, she said, “Now, when I get to the last line, prepare to join me in the final words of the spell. I’ll point at you when to start reciting. Make a clockwise circling gesture like so,” she drew her wand in a circle over her head, as if tracing an invisible halo, “and then point your wand at the center. Keep your wand focused and channel magic to the point, I’ll be doing the same. The spell will be complete when the light stops coming from your wand.”

Emma nodded, this was the most complicated spell she’d ever participated in and one of the only she’d ever done with someone else. “Okay, yeah. I got it.”

Ms. Sapphire smiled encouragingly, “I know you do. Ready? Let’s begin.”

Ms. Sapphire raised her arms and began a series of complicated want gestures which all flowed into one another. Emma got distracted from reading along as she watched, fascinated. One by one the different points of the star lit up until the entire tracery was glowing. It was thing to read about complex charms in class and another to see it performed in front of her.

The fairy dust piled in the middle began to shine with light and slowly rose to cover the entire diagram in an even layer. It was just after that part that Emma remembered she was supposed to be following along so she knew when to join in.

It takes precious seconds, during which Emma started to panic, before she found the where Ms. Sapphire was in the incantation—the second to last line. She has a few seconds to adjust her wand, recite the last three words to herself twice before Ms. Sapphire looked over at her and points.

Emma pointed her wand above her head in unison with Ms. Sapphire and began to turn it in a circle as she says, “ _Excito Pro Tempus._ ” Emma felt the magic build up as she spoke, just as with any other spell, and a jet of blue light leaves her wand to hit the middle of the star. The blue light from Ms. Sapphire’s wand did the same and the steams join together to form a slowly growing ball of blue light.

Emma focused on keeping her magic coming, heat starting to build up in her wand and her arm starting to shake a little. Just when Emma thought she couldn’t keep the spell going any longer, the light stopped coming and the blue ball rises before swelling and then exploding outward with a noise like a large bell being struck. Ribbons of blue light go wildly in different directions, passing through the ceiling and walls of the mine.

Emma would think the directions were random except four of the ribbons go off towards the sleeping figures on the other side of the cave. The blue lights flow into the figures lying still on their beds until the cave is once more only lit by torches.

Emma holds her breath until one of the figures groans, a noise she could only hear because of how silent the cavern had gotten. One of the others moved an arm and finally, a third slowly sat up.

The dwarf who hadn’t been cursed let out a shout of joy and leaned over to embrace one of the other dwarfs who’d been so still just moments ago. Other dwarves seem to come out of nowhere to join him, including Leroy, and joyous excitement fills the room.

Emma’s smiling and so is Ms. Sapphire, who claps her hands together. “Wonderful job, Emma! Please excuse me for a moment, while I fetch Marco.”

Before Emma could say anything, she apparated away and Emma was left standing off to the side, awkward but pleased. That had been a lot easier than Emma had thought it would be. She supposed Ms. Sapphire had done all the hard work ahead of time, right?

Soon enough though, one of the dwarves remembered she was there and pulled her over to join in the celebration, distracting her. By the time Ms. Sapphire was back with Marco, who was already in tears before he swept his nephew up into a hug, she had also been thoroughly thanked by multiple dwarves and pulled into a hug of her own.

Ms. Sapphire patted her on the shoulder and drew her a bit away, “I’m so glad everything worked out according to plan. Now, we’ve got a lot to sort out and we’ll need to visit the other witches and wizards. Would you mind if I brought you back home now, Emma?”

Emma blinked at her in surprise. She had to go already? But they’d only just broken the spell. Surely she got to stay for longer… Then Emma shook her head lightly; of course, Ms. Sapphire had much more important things to do now and its not like Emma had done much, all in all. She was probably just a distraction now. “Yeah, sure.”

“Good, thank you,” Ms. Sapphire said, sounding relived. She held out her arm for Emma to take.

Emma took Ms. Sapphire’s arm, feeling as though she’d missed something. It can’t have been this easy, could it? It was like some of the books that got donated to them and ended up having missing pages somewhere in the middle. This was all there was?

She was distracted by the intense pain, tight, squished feeling of apparition, she could only feel her body in the sense that all of it was being pressed and pressed until she was going to yell. Abruptly light and sounds came back, especially after the mine, daylight was too bright. She squinted as she panted, trying to re-orient herself to where they were.

“My apologies that we’re a little further than where we left,” Ms. Sapphire said, not actually sounding particularly apologetic, as if she thought her Apparating them was service enough.

Emma finally managed to connect what she was seeing with her memories and realized they were in behind a train station a couple blocks from her foster home. “It’s alright,” Emma replied, knowing that was the polite response and not having much energy to think of anything better.

“Wonderful, I really must be getting back now though,” Ms. Sapphire said, she glanced at the watch on her wrist and Emma noticed it didn’t have anything resembling a clock face on it.

Still, Emma didn’t doubt that she needed to return, but… “Isn’t there anything else I can do? Re you sure it worked for the witches who weren’t there?”

Ms. Sapphire smiled, “It’s sweet of you to worry, Emma, but I’m positive the spell we cast worked. I think we will handle it from here on out.” She reached out and placed a hand on Emma’s shoulder. “You’ve done enough for today.”

“Alright…” Emma said bewildered, it barely felt like she did anything at all.

“Thank you for your assistance. Goodbye.” And before Emma could even respond, the older witch had vanished with only a faint snapping noise to signify her exit.

Emma stared at the space she’d been, the sounds of an ordinary train pulling into the station in her ears, and tried to make sense of the feeling of incompletion.

 


	15. Savior

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Emma - Summer before Year 4  
> Regina - Summer before Year 5

Emma felt uneasy for the next few days, still expecting something more to happen, but nothing else came of it except a very nice letter she’d received from Marco and August. She’d sent a letter to all her friends explaining what had happened. All were glad everything had been resolved. Ruby was the last to reply and confirmed that Granny had heard the news for all they were deep in the north somewhere—remote enough that even owls had a hard time reaching them.

The whole thing still bothered Emma, like a missing tooth—not painful, but not quite right either. Still, there wasn’t much she could do—the only thing she could think to do was when about a week ago she’d sent a copy of the spell Sapphire had given her to Belle French, the smartest Ravenclaw her year, to see what she thought. Belle had been helping them with their research and Emma was sure she’d want to see the actual spell that ended up breaking the curse. The other girl hadn’t responded though, so Emma was trying to focus on other things since she didn’t actually have a good reason to feel so...unsettled.

She actually hadn’t thought of the curse breaking for three whole days when there was another knock on their door. Emma tensed immediately and went over to answer it herself, abandoning the kids program she’d been watching with the younger ones to keep them still.

She looked through the peep and opened the door when she recognized, “Leroy?”

The dwarf somehow looked worse than he had in Hogsmeade the first time they’d met. He had bags under his eyes that either suggested a bad hangover or very little sleep for days, to her surprise she felt herself leaning towards the no sleep guess. He stared at her, turning his hat in his hands. He looked far more desperate than angry, “Hey, blondie. You gotta come back to the mine.”

Emma wasn’t surprised at his words, it was like she’d been waiting for them, “Why? What’s going on?”

“The curse,” he replied, exhaustion evident in his voice. “Its back.”

Emma shut the door behind her and ushered him a little ways down the outer hallway of the apartment complex. “What do you mean its _come back_?”

He made an impatient growling noise, “I mean, Sneezy’s already back asleep and Nova—she barely remembered anything in the first place.” He sped up, clearly venting some of his frustration for the first time, “Sapphire’s refusing to do anything and says if its back then there’s nothing more she can do because you and her did the only thing that can be done. But I don’t believe her.” He suddenly looked at her fiercely, “There’s got to be something else! You’ve got to be able to do something—you’re the savior!”

“I—” for all Emma had been waiting for the other shoe to drop, she found herself unprepared for what she should do now that it had. “I don’t know what that’s supposed to mean, but I was a baby when all this went down the first time—it’s not like I remember anything. I’m just a kid, there are much more powerful witches out there. If Sapphire says there’s nothing else…”

Leroy scowled at her and she resisted the urge to shrink away from him. Surprisingly he seemed to tell he was scaring her and he took a deep breath. “Look, I don’t know what Sapphire had you two do, but I was there for the first spell and it wasn’t the same thing. And the prophecy says you’ll wake everyone up, so I think you should try to re-do the original spell, like her and Snow did the first time.”

“We didn’t do that before?”

“No, you’ll need some stuff from the mansion first and then you can try the spell in the mines again—except maybe this time it will stick.”

Emma frowned, “What’dya mean I’ll “need some stuff”? From what mansion?”

“From yer parents house,” Leroy explained, now impatiently, as if she should already know that. “There’s a spellbook in the library that had a copy of the spell Snow used the first time and some other stuff there they used.”

“I’ve never been to their house,” Emma protested, trying to ignore the part of her that was scared to even think about it. Going to her birth parents actual house. “And I don’t think that I can do the spell—I need Sapphire or at least another witch.”

“Don’t you have anyone who can help you?” he looked past her to her foster parent’s flat.

Emma looked too, bewildered, “What? Them? None of them are witches. I… I guess I could, could ask my friends to come help.”

“Fine, whatever you need,” Leroy stuffed his hat on his head. “Let’s go.”

Emma gaped at him, “Right now?!”

The dwarf looked at her like she must be stupid, “Of course, right now.”

“I need, let me just…” Emma motioned faintly back at the flat. “You know grab my stuff and let the other kids know I’m leaving.”

Emma didn’t wait for his response, she just raced back in through the front door, down the hall and into her bedroom. She grabbed a bag and hastily threw some things that looked like they might be useful. She wished she could change into her school robes or something, just so she could feel more magical, but she certainly couldn’t leave the house like that. Last, she hastily pulled on her wand holster.

She ran back out, tossing a quick goodbye to Robbie as she did so and ignoring his squawk of protest at her leaving him with the little ones. She babysat everyday—he could manage for a couple hours. At least, she hoped he could.

It was too late now, Leroy grabbed her arm and they vanished. The world faded to black, sounds distorted strangely until everything cleared and she was standing in the dusty front hall of a large house. Emma was disoriented from the sudden change, but not sick the way apparating with Sapphire had made her.

“Okay, here,” Leroy turned to the front table and grabbed a piece of paper. “You’ll need Snow’s spell book, its where she wrote down any spells she helped create. Then they’re some diagram thing that goes with the spell and you’ll need some of the special valerians that grow near the pond. Once you’ve got all that, head down to the mine. Here’s how to get from the house to the mine—there’s a path and its not far.”

“Okay, okay, I guess,” Emma said, glancing at the map. “you want to do the spell in the mine again?”

“Yeah, that’s where they did it the first time,” the dwarf said. “I gotta get back to help Doc with the sleepers.”

“Wait,” Emma said, “How do I bring my friends here to help?”

“I don’t know,” Leroy sounded immensely frustrated. “Why don’t you just re-connect the fireplace?” He waved his hand at a large fireplace nearby.

Emma frowned, “Reconnect it to what?”

Leroy raised an eyebrow, “The Floo network?”

Emma blushed, surprised she’d forgotten what that was. “I don’t know how to do that!”

Leroy glared at her as if she was doing this on purpose, “Well, would one of your friends know? I can get maybe one more of you and bring them back – I can’t apparate as much as you wand-carriers.”

“I don’t—I guess, Mary Margaret might. Mary Margaret Blanchard. I can’t come with you? Then here—let me write a quick note for her and then you can get her.”

Leroy grumbled about not being an owl, but waited for her to write the note out and disappeared with a pop after she gave it to him.

Emma looked around the large dusty hall and shivered. It felt so empty. She hoped they came back soon.

-x-x-x-x-

Mary Margaret showed up surprisingly quickly, and was grinning with excitement. “Emma!” she said as she rushed to give Emma a hug.

Leroy just gave Emma a look and headed off to the mine with a wave. “Hurry,” he tossed over his shoulder as he went out the back door.

“Isn’t this exciting?” Mary Margaret said, practically bouncing up and down with excitement.

“Um, sure,” Emma said, still feeling out of her depth, but feeling a little better now that one of her friends was here.

“So what’s happening? We’re still need to break the curse? Your note wasn’t very detailed.”

Emma laughed at the scolding tone in her friend’s voice, “Good to see you too, MM.”

Mary Margaret blushed and pouted, “Well, it wasn’t.”

Emma shook her head good-naturedly and quickly brought her fellow Hufflepuff up to speed. “So… I was hoping you might be able to help get everyone else here.”

“Hm,” Mary Margaret frowned. “Grandad hasn’t really started teaching me a lot of estate management magic yet.” She looked around the entrance hall they were in. “There should be a central spell panel, where most of the properties spell matrices lead—in the house for easy access. It wouldn’t be able to do everything, but basic management, like who can come through the Floo, should be there.”

“Like a fuse box?” Emma asked. Mary Margaret stared at her blankly. “Um, right, muggle thing. Nevermind”

Mary Margaret took another sweeping look around, “I don’t know where your parents might have had theirs though, it varies.” Then her face brightened, “I know how to find it. Dilly?”

Emma stared at her friend in confusion until there was a sudden crack and a small creature appeared, with over large ears and wearing a sort of wrap around little dress fashioned from a what appeared to be a light blue bedsheet.

“Miss Mary calls?” the creature said in a squeaky voice as she curtsied.

“Yes, thank you, Dilly,” Mary Margaret said with a smile. “I need your help. My friend, Emma and I.”

Dilly turned to find Emma standing there and promptly gave her a curtsy as well. “Hello, Miss Emma.”

“Uh, hi,” Emma said, she never knew how to act around house-elves. She knew the Hogwarts ones, at least the ones who worked in the kitchens. Emma knew MM had mentioned that her family had one as well, it was still rather strange to have your friend summon one like that.

“Dilly, we need your help,” Mary Margaret said, bending down slightly so she could look the house-elf more in the eye. “This is Emma’s house and she needs help finding the management panel so she reconnect the fireplace to the Floo network.”

Dilly’s eyes managed to grow even bigger as she looked around her, as if just now noticing the house. “The White estate,” she said. “Abandoned for years.” She rung her hands together, sounding positively distressed, “So much work needs to be done here. So much is out of order and dirty.”

“I know,” Emma said. “Sorry about that.”

Dilly squeaked and shook her head, “Meaning no disrespect, Miss Emma, truly.”

Emma smiled, “Of course you didn’t—and the place is in bad shape. I can’t live here on my own until I’m older so no one has been taking care of it. But we need to find something important that’s here and for that, we need our friends help. So do you think you know how we could hook up the Floo network so they can come here?”

Dilly frowned, “I don’t know if Miss Emma could, if she hasn’t inherited fully yet, and there might be hiding charms.” Emma and Mary Margaret let their dismay on their faces and Dilly hastened to continue talking, “But, if Misses permit, Dilly could get the others, instead of Floo.”

“Oh,” Emma said. She supposed that would be easier. “Can you do that? How often can you apparate?

“As many times as Miss Mary needs,” Dilly said, nodding her head and smiling at Mary Margaret.

“I guess it would be easier and quicker than reconnecting the Floo and then sending everyone messages by owl to come here,” Mary Margaret said.

“Right,” Emma said, blushing. She rubbed the back of her neck, “Let’s do that instead.”

-x-x-x-

It really didn’t take Mary Margaret and Dilly much time to visit David and Ruby and bring them back to the house. Emma spent her time studying the map Leroy had given her showing how to get from the house to the mine. He’d promised another dwarf would meet them at the mine entrance.

Soon enough all three witches and wizard were back with Emma in the entrance hall, ready to help out their friend.

“What do we need to find?” Ruby asked, her face excited and determined. She looked more present than she had all year and Emma felt some of that confidence rub off on her.

She nodded, “Leroy said there was some book in the library that should help, then there’s some blanket in one of the bedrooms, and lastly a certain flower or something in the pond.”

Mary Margaret nodded thoughtfully, “We should get the flower last.”

David continued where she left off, “So which first: library or bedroom?”

The other three all turned expectantly to Emma, as if she was any less a stranger to this situation, to this house—her _parents’_ house—than they were. Emma gulped down her fear and thought a moment. “Library,” she said, instinctively shying away from upper floors and more personal rooms.

They nodded, but no one moved. Emma realized they expected her too. As if she had any idea of where to find that. She looked around, hoping she wasn’t giving her nervousness away, and picked a direction, “This way.”

The right hallway led to another sitting room of some kind and a study, although after a brief look around it turned out not to be the library they were looking for. Overall the house was dusty, and smelled stale. Some curtains were open, which helped with the haunted atmosphere seeing as it was still afternoon, but enough were closed that they had to rely on the magically lights, whose spells were faded and finicky.

Eventually they reached a large room at the end of the main hallway that opened into what had to be the library. Emma felt like she was looking at a real-life, dusty version of the Beast’s library from Beauty and the Beast it was so large. How was this in someone’s house? It felt like her foster parent’s entire flat could fit in here. How the hell were they supposed to find one single book among all of these? “We’re looking for Snow White’s personal spell journal. Maybe its on one of these tables.

All four of them cast _lumos_ since all the curtains were drawn and fanned out to check the room. Emma went to the opposite end of the room and began to make her way towards the front, while Ruby did the reverse. Mary Margaret and David started in the middle and searched from there.

“I think I have it,” Mary Margaret called, waving one hand as she started to flip through a leather-bound journal. “It says “Snow White” in the cover and its handwritten.”

They all made their way over to her just as she reached the last pages with writing. She turned the page to Emma, “Does this look like it?”

Emma looked it over and after squinting to discipher the handwriting, she began to recognize parts of it—similar to Sapphire’s. “Yeah, I think this is it.”

Just then, Mary Margaret yelped, closing the book abruptly so that she could use it to swipe at a spider that had crawled around from the back of it. “Get off!” she flung it off and it flew to land on a curtain. Then she picked up another book on the desk and threw it at the spider where it had landed. Mary Margaret shrieked, “I hate spiders!” The book struck it square and made a more muffled thumping noise than Emma would have expected if it had hit the wall before it fell to the floor.

“Oh shit,” Emma said, eyes not leaving the suddenly writhing curtains as a single small head popped out.

“Well, those aren’t spiders,” David offered weakly as more heads and some dark, vaguely fairy-like, bodies emerged.

“No, they’re doxies—which are worse because they can bloody well fly!” Ruby exclaimed as the glittering black-winged doxies opened, demonstrating this ability, and started to fly at them, mouths open displaying their venomous teeth. “ _Flipendo_!”

“Does anyone have any doxycide?” Mary Margaret asked, swatting at the doxies with the book in her hand before she was able to pull out her wand.

“No, I tend not carry a bottle on me!” David manage to shout in between Knockback Jinxes.

The doxies seemed slow to wake up, unused to having to deal with any sort of threat in the abandoned house, but more and more were pouring from the curtains—even the ones further down the room seemed to be starting to move. They were going to be overwhelmed.

As Emma automatically cast “ _flipendo_ ” she looked frantically around the room for something to help her and her friends—before one of them got bit. “The door!” Emma said, her mind racing, “Let’s just get out and lock them in.”

“Good idea!” David replied and they formed a loose half circle before slowly backing towards the door.

They had a silent jostling argument about who was to leave first, with it ending up being Mary Margaret with the spellbook, then Ruby, who had the wall to one side and had been able to clear out most of her doxies, and David right after her. Emma cast a powerful banishing spell that pushed all the doxies around her back so that she could back out through the door.

David slamned it shut as soon she was through and ruby quickly locked it with _colloportus_. Not quite trusting their luck, they all then sprinted down the hall, away from the library.

At the end they all stopped to catch their breath from both the running and the constant spell casting. After a few minutes of muted thumps against the locked door, the sounds gradually died away and they all slowly relaxed.

“One down, two to go?” David said weakly.

It was enough of a joke to get them all to laugh and calm their racing hearts. “Yeah,” Emma said, placing her hand on his shoulder. “Two to go. The next is some spell cloth—has the spell diagram on it.”

“I think Granny helped make that,” Ruby said. “She’d really good at sewing magic. Must have been to help make the spell last longer—drawing the spell diagram on the ground is too temporary for a spell like that.”

“That should definitely help then, using the original spell information I mean,” Mary Margaret put in.

“Yeah, Leroy said it’d be upstairs, in the—in my parents’ bedroom,” Emma said, ignoring the looks the others were exchanging. She knew she wasn’t able to fully hide all the uncomfortable emotions and questions this was bringing up for her, but she was grateful no one called her on any of it. “The staircase to upstairs is back by the front hall.”

She accepted the spellbook from Mary Margaret and lead the way back. She still couldn’t believe this could have been her house, that she could have spent her childhood here—she could be living here right now. This house could have been full of light and life, without dust and with her actual parents. If they hadn’t been killed. She tried her best not to define he other thought she’d been having, that if they had protected themselves with the curse, she could be waking them up. But they hadn’t, and she was left alone.

She glanced back behind her to her friends, well, not completely alone. Emma still couldn’t believe they’d come. She had friends that were willing to drop everything and come help her, even if it meant abandoned houses and poisonousness fairies and decades long curses.

A small smile was on her face as they reached the stairs and began to head up. “Let’s just start checking rooms,” Emma said, refocusing on what they needed to do. “I don’t which room was theirs.”

The others nodded, and automatically each took a side of the hall, with Emma and Ruby on the left and Mary Margaret and David on the right. They cautiously began opening first doors they came across.

Guest rooms covered in sheets were first, and then a bathroom and a linen closet. Mary Margaret and David pulled open a small door which revealed a small space she identified as house-elf rooms.

Emma was still marveling that her parents had actually had house-elves when Ruby twisted the door knob of the room on their side and opened it to reveal a nursery. Emma froze and stared at the pretty little blue nursery, a basinet in the center.

As if in a haze Emma went in, noticing that the curtains were open in this room and the light filtered in through the dusty gave it an otherworldly look even more so than the other rooms had. She had been here as a baby, she had slept in the basinet. Someone had changed her diapers on the changing table to her right. Maybe someone had rocked her in the chair in the corner. The toys were hers: the cute stuffed owl, the pink puffskein, and the rattle.

She stood, staring around the room, taking in all the details—from the little chest of drawers to the other books and toys scattered throughout out the room—as if someone had been using the room until they vanished and no one else had ever cleaned it up.

“Emma?” Mary Margaret’s quiet and tentative voice came from behind her in the doorway.

Emma nodded to acknowledge she’d heard the other witch, but she didn’t move. After a couple more minutes, right before Mary Margaret was going to get her attention again, she turned abruptly. She walked quickly out of the room and didn’t look back.

The next room, the one at the end of the hall turned out to be the master bedroom. Emma opened the door herself, spellbook clutched in her right hand, wand in her left. It was dark in this room, partially due to the half-drawn curtains over the front windows and partially due to the greenery that had grown to cover most of the back windows.

Emma and David cast _lumos_ as the four moved into the room and gathered around the spellbook. Mary Margaret flipped through to the end of the book where the directions for the last spell Snow White had created was. “Here’s what we want.” Before the incantation page was a simple drawing of the pattern that would be on the clothe. A four-pointed star in red, on a white clothe with black runes stitched around.

They all fanned out around the room. Emma tried hard not to focus on any of the details, narrowing her focus to finding the clothe. She eventually found a folded white blanket that might be it in the closet, “I think I found it!”

“Really? I think I’ve got it,” Ruby said as the four went back to meet at the large bed in the center of the room. Ruby was also holding a white blanket and each witch placed theirs down on the bed. “Mine was draped over some chair over there.”

“This was in the closet. Let’s unfold them and see,” Emma said, diming her wand and shoving it in her holster so they could all help to unfold the blankets.

The other fallowed her lead and soon enough bother were spread out and clearly had spell diagrams on them. Emma squinted in the now minimal light.

Mary Margaret sighed, “We can’t make any details out like that, lets just open up the curtains.” She turned around to pull on the drapes aside while Emma and David cast _lumos_ once more.

“Hm, I think Ruby’s is the right one,” Emma said from the minimal wand light as she waited for Mary Margaret to finish wrestling the curtains to the side so they could really see for sure.

“You think?” David said, walking around to join her on the other side of the bed.

“Here, MM, let me help,” Ruby said, rolling her eyes at Mary Margaret’s struggles.

“It’s a really heavy curtain,” Mary Margaret said, panting a bit. “Really thick. It doesn’t seem to want to move.”

Ruby walked over to her and saw that the curtain didn’t match the color of the green one on the other side of the window. It was pure black and Mary Margaret was right—it was way thicker than a usual curtain. “What the--?”

Ruby’s question was cut off when the curtain moved on its own and threw both witches back and onto the floor. It seemed to detach itself from the curtain rod and a tendril of black came from it, attempting to snag around Mary Margaret’s leg as it moved forward.

“What is that!?” David shouted as both he and Emma turned their wands at it.

Ruby knew the most about magical creatures because of Granny and she quickly ran through the possibilities, “Lethifold!” Ruby shrank back, crawling backwards. “Living Shroud. They suffocate and eat people.”

“What the hell is one doing here?” Emma shouted. “ _Stupefy_!”

The red jet of light flew at the creature but it barely seemed to notice. Ruby threw herself forward, trying to draw the creature’s attention away from Mary Margaret. It worked and Mary Margaret finally scrambled to her feet. She raced over to the other side of the bed, but Ruby was still trapped against the bed.

“ _Depulso_! _Incendio_!” David cast rather desperately. Neither had any effect as the creature focused its efforts on Ruby, who had backed up as far as she could go. “How do we get rid of it?!”

“Patronus,” Ruby replied, her face white. She held her wand in front of her, hand shaking. “Ex-expect-to patronum.” Nothing happened, not even silver smoke.

Emma stared at her in shock, she thought Ruby said she’d mastered the charm over the summer in one of her letters. And even before they’d left for summer holiday, she’d nearly managed to produce an actual animal.

“Expecto patromun!” Ruby tried again, but her voice high-pitched and only smoke came out.

The lithifold had reached her now and was dragging Ruby forward as it leaned down. Ruby hit back with her fists, but that didn’t seem to do much more than the other spells had.

Emma watched in horror as the lethifold started to come down around a Ruby’s head. It as going to kill her.

 _No_ , Emma thought furiously, this thing wasn’t getting her friends. They were going to beat it, they were going to break the curse, and be friends for the rest of their lives. She hadn’t worked this hard just to have some living blanket end it all. With that thought blazing in her mind, she aimed her wand, “ _Expecto! Patronum!_ ”

Her wand warmed just slightly before a silver form burst from it. The brilliant silver dog ran across the room in the blink of an eye and pounced at the lethifold, soaring through Ruby to push it back, its lips curled back in a silent snarl.

Mary Margaret and David quickly moved in unison, each grabbing ahold of one of Ruby’s arms, to pull her back and away from the dark creature, which was being successfully herded back by Emma’s well-defined patronus.

It came back to her, lethifold successfully corralled into the master bathroom. David slamned the door on it and Mary Margaret locked it in, just as they had the doxies. Emma stared at her patronus with slightly dazed eyes. Her patronus looked like a very large golden retriever, although of course, it was silver. It met her eyes, giving her a wide doggy smile, and a single wag of its tail before it slowly blew apart into silvery dust.

No one wanted to wait around. With the newly let in sunshine now that the lethifold wasn’t blocking the light, Emma could tell that the clothe Ruby had grabbed was the right one. She grabbed it and herded everyone out of the door, shutting and locking that door herself.

Her adrenaline and pride at having cast a real patronus had all but disappeared by the time they were back at the staircase. Ruby looked petrified and her fellow Hufflepuffs seemed to be in shock from how close it had come to killing Ruby. “I’m so sorry I got us into this mess,” Emma said once they were safely out of the room and down the hall near the grand staircase.

“Hey, we all agreed to help,” David said with a frown as he tried to catch his breath. “Don’t go taking blame you don’t deserve.”

“Stop trying to martyr yourself,” Ruby said, with a weak eyeroll.

Instantly Mary Margaret rounded on her, “You’re one to talk.”

“Yeah,” David chimed in, “What were you thinking—throwing yourself at that thing!”

“I’m... I’m sorry,” Ruby said awkwardly, re-doing her ponytail as a way to occupy her nervous fingers and to avoid meeting anyone’s eyes. “I wasn’t thinking. Sorry.”

“Does this have anything to do with why you couldn’t make a patronus?” Emma asked, and wished she could take her question back when Ruby flinched.

Mary Margaret moved closer to the upset girl, “Or why you were acting so sad at the end of last year?”

“I…” Ruby sheepishly rubbed her arm. “I hadn’t thought you’d noticed.” They all shook their heads. She deflated a little further at that, “Oh. Sorry.”

“We’ve been worried,” David said, gentler even than Mary Margaret had. “You’re our friend and something’s wrong and you won’t tell us.”

“It’s… I found out… Granny tried to keep it from me… My mom…” Ruby kept starting her sentences before changing her mind. Finally, she pressed her lips together decisively and took a deep breath. “I’m a werewolf.”

Silence, as if the house itself was holding its breath.

“What?” Mary Margaret said, shocked.

Ruby hung her head and refused to looked at any of them, wrapping her arms around herself. “My mother was one, I guess. And I…I’m part werewolf I guess. It isn’t very clear how it all works since my dad wasn’t one. Granny had this special cloak, the red one, that kept it all under control when I was younger, but I guess puberty when your part-werewolf comes with more surprises than usual. The cloak stopped working and Granny had to tell me.”

“You found out beginning of last year?” Emma asked, putting it together. Ruby and Granny had a huge fight, she remembered. She had been hurt because Ruby wouldn’t tell her what about.

“Yeah, we’ve been doing all sorts of tests. Werewolves don’t normally had kids and not with non-werewolves. There’s a Wolfsbane potion, but it really expensive and super difficult, so we’ve been trying other things. Not much helps except locking me up and keeping me away from everyone. I’d thought since you were all in Hufflepuff instead of Gryffindor, maybe I could keep you from finding out that I was leaving the castle every month, and you’d just think I had terrible cramps or something.” She gave a shaky laugh at that and turned to look down the hall. “Don’t know why I bothered.”

“Oh, Ruby,” Mary Margaret said, before she rushed over and pulled Ruby into a tight hug. Ruby stiffened and froze, looking down at Mary Margaret’s head like she was hallucinating. Mary Margaret almost started to pull back, worried she’d done the wrong thing, when Ruby’s arms came up and hugged her back just as fiercely.

David grabbed Emma by the arm and tugged her over for a group hug, which she was more than willing to join, with Ruby at the center. The four friends stood there for the next few minutes, just reassuring each other that everything was going to be alright.

Eventually they moved on, down the stairs and out the backdoor Emma had seen Leroy leave through. It led out onto a back deck and patio. Even the cloudy sunshine was more then welcome and they all felt better for breathing in fresh air. Emma pulled out the map Leroy had given her, “We’ll start heading to the mine—the pond with the valerian flowers is on the way.”

“What happens when we get there?” Ruby asked.

“I’m not sure. I think the spell to break the curse should eb in here, although I thought that’s what Sapphire and I had tried a month ago.” Emma began trying to read the notes on the spell in the book, trusting her friends to make sure she was walking in the correct direction.

“If two people cast the spell before, I’m sure we can help break it,” Mary Margaret said thoughtfully. “That’s normally how group spells work.”

“Maybe four students will be able to do the same thing as two adult witches,” David offered hopefully.

Ruby shaded her eyes, “There’s the pond.”

They jogged up the path towards it. Emma sat down on a bench and continued to read while the others looked around the edge of the pond for the flowers.

It was fairly quiet until a choked gasp came from David as a creature suddenly jumped from the water to reach for his throat. The girls all converged on him to pull a struggling grindylow off of him.

It didn’t take long to free him and they soon had the flowers they needed. Ruby had brought a basic healing potion which she gave to him and soon enough the bruises on his neck faded.

Emma tried to focus on the book instead of another dangerous brush with a dark creature and frowned, “there’s something I don’t get—nothing about this so far says anything about Snow or Sapphire or me having to cast the spell or that only the same people can reverse it.”

Mary Margaret frowned, “Normally it doesn’t have to be the same people. I was surprised that Ms. Sapphire had said the spell was locked like that.”

“You just must not have gotten to that part yet,” David suggested.

The mine really was close by and sooner rather than later they ended up at the entrance. All four eyed the dark cave dubiously until a round faced dwarf holding a torch came out to meet them. “Come! Come!,” he said, waving them in.

They exchanged a look before they all followed him down. The trip down was even shorter than it had felt last time and before Emma knew it, they were in the same large chamber.

“You got everything?” Leroy said, jogging over to them as soon as he saw them come in.

“Yup,” Emma held up the spellbook, Ruby the clothe, and Mary Margaret the flowers. David just gave a little wave.

“Okay, over here. This is where Snow cast the spell the first time.” He led them much closer to where the dwarves had been in their cursed sleep and Emma saw that most of them looked as they had before her and Sapphire’s spell—even the one she’d seen get up was asleep again.

Once they got to the right spot, Emma gathered everyone around to look at the right page. “according to the book, this is the spell that should lift the curse. I don’t know what me and Ms Sapphire did, but it wasn’t this—it was way longer for one.”

“Yeah, this looks super simple,” Ruby said.

“It’s only three words,” Mary Margaret said, mouthing them to herself.

“Do you really think this is all?” David asked, doubtful.

“Well, that what it seems like and it’s all we got,” Emma said, shrugging. “No harm in trying.”

They all nodded and Emma put the book aside so they could all help with the clothe. The a small crack sound came from a tunnel off the main cavern. Emma drew her wand and turned that way and was shocked to see Ms. Sapphire walk in. “Ms. Sapphire?”

“Emma?” the older witch looked just as surprised to see her. Her blue eyes darted from Emma to her friends beyond her. “What are you doing here?”

“Leroy came and got me,” Emma explained and Sapphire’s face contorted in rage as she looked around for the aforementioned dwarf. Emma could understand why she looked so upset. “He said the curse didn’t break. He wanted me to try again to fix it.”

“That dwarf should know better than to go behind my back, where is he?” Sapphire’s voice was cold and Emma automatically took a step back.

Leroy’s head appeared from behind one of the sleeping pedestals along with the other dwarf who’d fetched them down. “You wouldn’t do anything else so I did."

Faye’s eyes narrowed and she said haughtily to him, “You’re messing with spells you can’t possibly understand.” She turned to Emma, “So are you. Stop this at once.”

“No,” Emma said, defensively. Now she was sure Sapphire had been up to something. “is everything set up?” Emma asked her friends.

“Yeah, but are we stopping?” David asked, confused.

Emma looked at the blue witch and decisively turn her back, “Nope. Everyone get into position at a point of the star.

“I said, stop!” Sapphire shouted, pulling out her wand and heading towards them.

She was too far away though and Emma hastily looked at everyone, “Okay, on the count of three. One! Two! Three!”

As one they raised their wands and then brought them down, pointing at the center of their four-pointed star, “ _Salvus_! _Finite Dorminium_!”

A billowing cloud of blue smoke rose around the four before it shot outwards. Luckily, the dwarves ducked behind the sleeping pedestals just in time, but it managed to hit Sapphire squarely, knocking her down.

The blue smoke continued to dissipate and quiet filled the cavern. Just when Emma was about ask if it had worked, a woman appeared in a puff of blue smoke a few meters in front of Emma, behind Ruby. She was dressed for a muggle hospital and was clutching her head.

“Nova!” Leroy cried.

“Dreamy?” the woman said, turning towards him. He ran up to her and caught her in a big hug. She laughed and clutched him back.

More people appeared in a loose circle around them, a few meters from where the four students had cast their spell, all of them in a similar state of confusion.

They evidently recognized each other though and were soon embracing as well. Noise from where the sleeping dwarves had been also got her attention—they too were waking up. Emma and her friends slowly began grinning at each other before they too were hugging.

Another series of cracks sounded, pulling the student’s attention from the sounds of happy reunions to find a trio of serious looking wizards had appeared. They began walking over towards the students, frowns on their faces when a final loud crack sounded, which echoed in the large chamber of the cave and a voice cried out, “What is going on here?”

“Granny?” Ruby said, turning around to find her grandmother standing close to where Nova had appeared.

“That’s what we’d like to know too,” one of the witches said. She held out a badge, “Tamara Jones, auror. These are my colleagues: Archie Hopper and Guinevere Queen. You four are the source of the transportation of cursed witches and wizards from numerous public muggle areas in the last few minutes?”

Emma gulped, “Um, maybe?”

-x-x-x-

After that more and more people apparated into the mines. Confusion reigned as family members of the cursed people appeared and more wizards from the Ministry came too. Since the curse had left the people afflicted thinking they muggles and with no memories of their loved ones, they’d been primarily in muggle care centers as their conditions deteriorated. That left the ministry needing to run around modifying a number of memories when they had then vanished in puffs of blue smoke.

Archie ended up being the ones talking to the students while Tamara interrogated Sapphire, who’d attempted to sneak away, and Guinevere talked to the dwarves.

In the end, it turned out that Sapphire had purposely extended the curse and hadn’t been trying to break it all. She’d just wanted the dwarves awake long enough to find a new vein of fairy crystals. The members of her own organization who’d been cursed turned out to have been the ones investigating her for black market fairy dust deals and she’d wanted them to remain cursed.

“So, did I even need to be the one to break the curse?” Emma asked Granny.

“It looks like anyone could have, if they’d seen the spell and had the right materials.”

“But the prophecy…” Emma said, bewildered.

Granny scoffed, “Bah, prophecies—they’re a load of rubbish—even when they are true. Tend to fulfill themselves if you ask me. You did break the spell, so it wasn’t wrong, but maybe if there hadn’t been a prophecy someone else might have tried to break it. It’s impossible to tell.”

“I guess…” Emma couldn’t help feeling a little let down, even if she hadn’t really wanted to be a savior. She had sort of liked feeling special.

“Come on,” Granny said, with a nod at Archie. “I think we’re done here. Let’s get you back to your friends.”

Emma looked over to where Ruby, Mary Margaret, and David were waiting for her, saw how they all smiled and waved her over and felt her spirits lifting. Why would she need a prophecy to feel special when she had friends like these?


	16. Tutoring

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Emma - Year 4  
> Regina - Year 5

Only a month or so into the school term, Professor Gold asked her to stay after class to discuss her tutoring schedule. Some of her students had improved enough to not need tutoring anymore while others would do best if they continued with the extra help. It was a mix of third and fourth years that were on her schedule.

“Lastly, how would you feel about taking on another fourth-year student? I’m aware Miss Lucas no longer requires your tutoring, so would you be agreeable to taking on a different fourth year in her time slot?” Gold asked.

Regina smiled. She knew if Ruby had more time to study she would be able to continue on without a tutor. “Of course, I would be happy to.”

“Wonderful, Miss Lucas shall be replaced with Miss Swan,” Gold wrote that down in his scheduling ledger. “I will meet you at the usual time to introduce you and go over where Miss Swan needs the most help. That should be all of your students for this year.”

“Sounds good, thank you,” Regina said with a smile.

The next day, Regina was waiting in her dungeon to receive her new student, looking over the standard lesson plan Gold had provided for fourth years. She needed to refresh herself with what potions were covered during fourth year. Even though it was only last year, she had brewed so many other potions besides those they learned in class, she was having to look over what was covered as she had to for all her tutoring lessons.

She was starting to wonder if there had been a change in plans. She’d never known Gold to be more than a minute late and yet it was already five past the time they’d agreed upon.

Regina was about to go to his classroom when the door opened and Gold came in followed by a blonde Hufflepuff.

“My apologies for our lateness,” Gold said as he gestured Emma in.

“Good afternoon, professor. It’s no trouble,” Regina said automatically as she studied her new student. Regina frowned, something about the other girl looked familiar. Then she realized it was the White girl—she’d heard the girl went by a different surname, but she hadn’t known what it was. How interesting.

“Miss Swan,” Gold said, breaking her out of her thoughts. “This is Regina Navar, one of my most accomplished Potions tutors. She will be instructing you until your grades improve.”

Emma flushed at the reminder of her current bad grade. Regina seemed just as intimidating as Ruby had described her. She looked pretty stuck up too. Maybe she was overreacting though.

-x-x-x-

The tutoring lessons were not going well.

“She’s just so bossy,” Emma complained to Ruby. “How did you stand it?”

Ruby shrugged, already bored of Emma’s whining about Regina. “I don’t know. I mean, she is tutoring you—she’s kinda supposed to tell you what to do.”

Emma glared at Ruby, “You know what I mean. She’s so...so condescending. ‘Late again, Miss Swan.’ ‘Dice the lavender, don’t cut it ‘Stir it in slowly, Miss Swan. No, slower. Sloooower’” Emma said in a bad imitation of Regina’s voice that nevertheless caused Ruby to laugh.

“Come on, she’s not that bad,” Ruby said when her giggles subsided. “She’s just…standoffish. You know how those pureblood types are, but she’s not bad—even Granny says so and I’m pretty sure Granny hates her mum.”

“Her mum?” Emma asked, wrinkling her brow.

“You know, she’s one of those old family, muggles are a subspecies and muggleborns are a sign of decay in society—that sort of person,” Ruby said, waving a hand. “Pureblood crap like that. She used to do some work for the Department of Mysteries I think, just kind of shady all around. Granny hates anyone political, let alone people as deep in it as Cora Navar.”

“That’s why I was a bit nervous having her for a tutor. But Granny, said it should be alright. Regina is in her Care of Magical Creatures, but she keeps to herself mostly so Granny said she couldn’t get a good read on her. Still, throughout our tutoring sessions she never said anything like that and I know she tutored at least one muggleborn so if she shares any ridiculous views with her mum, she kept them to herself.”

“Good,” Emma said vehemently. To be fair to Regina, that wasn’t something Emma thought she would believe. Regina was annoying, but not like that. Blood purists had a certain air about them that Emma had grown rather good at sensing. “I just wish she’d get that stick out of her butt.”

Ruby laughed, “I’d be willing to go look for it at least, Regina’s pretty hot.”

Emma scowled and threw a pillow at Ruby, “Not helping, don’t let her fool you—it’s all an illusion to hid her evilness.”

Ruby rolled her eyes, “You’d say that about anyone trying to make you study. Like we’re supposed to be now. Transfiguration, I think.”

“Shhh, how dare you remind me that we’re supposed to be studying,” Emma wagged her finger at Ruby, while trying to hide her smile. “Cut that out or I will definitely have to call you evil too.”

-x-x-x-

The lessons were not going well. Regina fussed over her owl as she thought aloud, something she found herself doing more often lately.

“It’s like she doesn’t even want to learn. She can barely pay attention—and she never listens!” Regina complained.

Her owl cooed a response and Regina smiled, “Not like you, boy, you’re a good listener. Never have to you anything twice—or five times, do I?”

“If she would just put some effort in,” Regina resumed her mini-rant to the uninterested bird. “But no, why focus on potions when you can be hitting things with a bat?” She suppressed that part of her she knew was jealous Emma could play on her house team and she couldn’t, even if Emma was a beater and not a seeker.

“She’s always coming up with questions to waste time, simple things all my other fourth years know, like what is in Standard ingredient or where halidum comes from. She actually asked me what doxycide is used for? As if it wasn’t obvious—and I know Gold went over it in class anyways.”

Suddenly there was a knock on her doorframe and Kathryn stood in the doorway, which she had left open since no one was using the sitting room. “Do you want to come down to dinner with us? Or do you want to continue talking to yourself?”

Regina scowled to hide her blush, “I’m not talking to myself, Isimud understands me perfectly.”

Kathryn gave her a look, “Whatever you say. Are you coming?”

“Yeah,” Regina said, giving a poor attempt of a wink at her owl. “We can finish our talk later.”

-x-x-x-

Things had not been improving for either girl as the weeks went on.

Regina glanced up from the herbal book she was reading to see how Emma was doing with the Pepperup potion she was brewing.

“You’re not crushing those snake fangs to a fine enough power.” Regina gestured to the power Emma had ground, “Look, there are still whole pieces.” Regina hated lazy students.

“Urgh, well so-rry they’re not up to your standard,” Emma growled as she picked up the handkerchief holding her powder and dumped it back into the mortar to crush further. Why couldn’t Regina just tell her how much to crush it in the beginning?

Regina gave a long-suffering sigh, “It’s not my standard—it’s just _the_ standard. As in the way everyone does this.”

“There, happy now?” Emma said, her anger fueled use of the pestle seemed to have created very fine powder.

“Thrilled,” Regina said flatly. “Now let’s see about the next step. Have you prepared the flobberworm mucus?”

“Um, not yet—” Emma hastily looked down, she only saw information about the snake fangs which she hastily added so that the potion would stop turning a darker green than it was meant to. “That’s not next.”

“It’s soon enough, you should have it measured it already,” Regina explained.

Emma checked her work area and noticed she’d forgotten to grab that jar from the shelves, “Urgh, let me go get that.”

“You didn’t grab it ahead of time like I told you? Are you even trying?” Regina asked, exasperated. Why should she take this seriously if Emma wasn’t going to?

“Of course I am,” Emma replied defensively. She glared at the haughty fifth year, “Maybe you just need to learn how to teach better.”

Regina glared, she was a very good tutor. “Or you could just actually pay attention for once instead of trying to ‘wing it’,” she snapped, her patience vanishing quickly.

“I am paying attention!” Emma protested. “You’re just constantly making everything unnecessarily complicated.” Probably to stroke her own ego. How had Ruby put up with this for so long?

Regina put her book down heavily, “Just because the steps are more than three sentences long doesn’t mean they’re complicated or that I’m making them that way.”

Emma suppressed the urge to walk out the dungeon room and never come back. She looked down to read the next step. Adding fire seed pods, well at least that was straight forward. She turned around to grab the jar she’d set aside at the beginning to count some out to add. Maybe if she just completely ignored Regina she’d learn something through repetition. Her first try for this potion in class had not gone well.

She squinted down at the recipe before counting out the eight pods she would need. She added them all in a big clump, leaning back from the minor splash. Then the entire potion let out a loud hissing noise, like air leaving a balloon.

Instantly, Regina looked up from her book and refocused on the potion. “What did you just do?” Regina said, dread pooling in her stomach as the Pepperup Potion began to turn orange far more quickly than it should.

Emma scowled, “I did what it said! I put in eight fire seed pods and—”

“Eight! You’re only supposed to put in three!” Regina yelled, her fury momentarily overriding her worry.

Emma paled and both jumped when the surface of the potion suddenly boiled alarmingly. “What do we do?!” Emma asked, beginning to panic.

Mint would be the obvious calming effect, but all the mint was on Emma’s side of the table. Regina didn’t trust Emma to grab the right plant and besides it was too late. The potion was already extremely unstable from the more than double dose of fire seeds and large bubbles began forming rather than it simply boiling. Regina knew what would happen when they burst. It was too late. She made a split-second decision and dove for the other girl, “Get down!”

Emma let out a loud yelp as Regina shoved her back from the cauldron and they both fell to the ground a few meters away. Emma yelled again when her head hit the floor and Regina’s full body weight landed on her. She automatically moved one hand to clutch at the back of her head while the other moved to Regina’s shoulder to shove the older girl off of her.

Regina was barely paying attention as she twisted to look at the potion. Turned awkwardly she shouted, “ _Protego!_ ” As if on cue the large bubble that had formed by the other bubbles merging until it covered the entire surface of the cauldron popped, sending hundreds of boiling droplets all over the small practice dungeon.

Emma stared up at Regina in surprise as drops hit the shield, orange fire hissing from all over the room, lighting Regina up from behind with a powerful glow.

When it began obvious that no more of the potion was going to explode out, Regina dropped her shield and turned to look down at Emma sprawled out underneath her. “Are you alright, Miss Swan?”

“Uh, yeah, I’m fine,” Emma managed as she pushed up slightly on her elbows. Regina leaned back when the motion brought Emma closer.

Regina blinked down at her once more before she shook her head slightly and moved to get off of Emma. While doing so, she suddenly let out a pained hiss. She sat down on the floor next to Emma and reached for her ankle. When she’d tackled Emma her robes had ridden up, exposing her right ankle. Her shield had evidently been too high, aiming to protect their heads, not her feet, and so her ankle had been burned. She looked at the large burn covering her ankle with dismay.

As if finally noticing it suddenly made the pain more pronounced, she was now aware of it throbbing and could feel heat radiating from it.

“What—?” Emma asked, noticing Regina’s silence. She sat up more fully and leaned over. “Holy shit, Regina. Are you okay?”

“Obviously not,” Regina said huffily, trying to drown out the pain.

Emma scrambled to her feet, “That looks bad.” Shit, shit, it really did. “We need to get Gold or Madame Pomfrey.” She turned to head for the door.

“No!” Regina called out without thinking. “Don’t leave!” the desperation in her voice caused Emma to freeze and so did Regina. A long silence stretched of them just staring at each other before Regina regained her composure, anything to cover up her vulnerability. “I mean, it’s not that bad. You don’t need to fetch anyone. I can just, make my way to the Hospital wing myself.”

Emma eyed her skeptically, “Really? How about you stand up?”

Regina glared at her, “I will.” She carefully placed her hands on the ground and pushed herself up, placing all over her weight on her left foot as she did so. Regina staggered as she stood up, her right hand bracing heavily on the singed countertop. Emma took a step closer to help but Regina glared her to a halt.

Regina was panting heavily by the time she was fully upright. A simple test of trying to place some weight on her injured ankle led her to involuntarily cry out and nearly fall back to the ground as her head spun with the pain, although she managed to keep on her feet.

Regina took a few more deep breaths as she steadied herself as best she could before lifting her eyes to Emma, who was eyeing her with a mixture of respect and disbelief. “See, I can handle this myself.”

“Oh yeah? Trying walking then,” Emma challenged, but she backed off before Regina could try. “There’s no need to do this. Just let me get someone—”

“I said, no,” Regina cut her off. She hated feeling so weak, but for whatever reason, she also didn’t want to be alone. Who knew if Emma would even come back for her anyways?

Emma crossed her arms over her chest, “You can’t go anywhere like that.”

“I can, I just need…” she looked around the room before spotting a broom handle leaning against the wall. She pulled out her wand, “ _Accio broom._ ”

Obligingly, the broom soared over to her. She caught, nearly losing her balance in the process. Carefully, Regina gripped the broom like a walking stick in her right hand.

Emma watched in slow horror as Regina painfully used the broom to move a few feet, hopping on her left foot. It was hard to watch. Emma went over to her side, “Please, just stop.”

Regina was red-faced and panting, but she still turned to Emma as if to yell again, so this time Emma continued before she could. “Alright, fine, I won’t go get anyone, but let me help you get to hospital wing at least.”

Regina wanted to turn down the Hufflepuff’s offer, but in reality, she knew that there was no way she could make it to Madame Pomfrey in the state she was in. Her ankle just hurt to damn much. She sniffed, but slowly leaned the broom against the table, “I suppose you can assist me.”

“Thanks,” Emma said sarcastically, but didn’t call Regina out on the obvious posturing. Emma pictured Regina’s red, burned ankle, and the panic in her voice when Emma said she was going to leave, and kept her mouth shut. She lifted Regina’s right arm over her shoulder and slipped her left arm around Regina’s waist so that she was supporting as much of Regina’s weight as the other girl would allow.

“How’s this?” Emma asked.

“Fine,” Regina replied tersely, her leg beginning to ache from holding her foot off the ground so as not to hurt herself further. “Let’s go.”

It was a long arduous walk from the dungeons to the hospital wing, during which they had to stop frequently for Regina to rest—no matter how much she tried to pretend or how many times Emma offered to bring someone to them instead. 

Finally, they made it to the hospital wing, where upon as soon as they pushed open the door Madame Pomfrey rushed over, sweeping Regina up with a spell immediately. Emma found herself pushed off on a bench to the side.

Now that the immediate problem was being dealt with Emma found her guilt rising—after all it was her fault for messing up the stupid potion, causing her to explode. Here she had been thinking Regina didn’t even like her and then Regina did something stupid like dive on top of her to protect her from a boiling potion.

Eventually, Madame Pomfrey bustled over to her, “Miss Swan, you brought Miss Navar in?”

“Yeah, is she okay?”

“Yes, yes. She’ll be fine. Why she didn’t just get me to come to her I’ll never understand. I’m not even sure how she made it here without passing out, even with your help.”

“I’m sorry, I tried to get her to let me come get you, but—”

Madame Pomfrey held up a hand, visibly reigned in her displeasure, and smiled kindly at Emma, “It’s quite alright. I know how stubborn Miss Navar can be. You did get her here after all and that’s what matters. Would you like me to show you to her?”

“Okay, yeah.”

“Can I ask what happened? All Regina would say is that a potion had gone wrong.”

“It was my fault,” Emma explained, surprised that Regina hadn’t blamed her for the situation. “She’d tutoring me and I misread the instructions—I added too many fire seeds to a Pepperup potion and it just—burst all over the room. If Regina hadn’t knocked us down and cast a shield spell, we’d both be a lot more burned.”

“Ah, I had thought it was unusual for Regina to cause such a dramatic accident with her potion brewing,” Madame Pomfrey admitted. She finally came to a halt at one of the beds near the back and gestured to the screened off portion, “Here we are.”

They stepped around to the opening and Emma saw that Regina was frowning as she looked at her propped up ankle, which was covered in thick orange paste of some kind.

Regina looked up when they came into view and surprise flitted over her face when she saw Emma. Madame Pomfrey spoke up, “Miss Swan here to see you.” She turned to Emma, “Make sure she doesn’t try to stand up or move her ankle. I’ll be back shortly with some aloe bandages.”

“Yes, Madame Pomfrey,” Emma said automatically.

Once the matron had left, a mild awkward silence fell. Regina broke it to say, “What are you still doing here? I figured you left once we got here.”

“No,” Emma replied obviously. “I wanted to make sure you were okay. And to say thank you. It would have been pretty hurt if you hadn’t reacted so fast when the potion went wrong.”

Regina shrugged uncomfortably, “It’s fine, I should have been saying closer attention to what you were doing.”

Emma fidgeted with the edge of the bedspread, trying to think of something to change the subject, “Do you want me to grab your stuff from the practice room?”

“Yes,” Regina said with relief, glad they could move beyond who had helped who. “Thank you. You should probably also tell Gold about what happened. He’ll need to fix some of the damage or explain to a house elf what to do about it.”

Emma nodded, yes—doing things, that’s what she needed. Action. “Okay, I can do that. I’ll be back soon.”

“Bye,” Regina said, still trying to recover from awkward thanks. Emma gave a jerky little wave and disappeared from sight. Regina was left staring after her, head still trying to catch up with the day’s exciting events.

-x-x-x-

Their next lesson a couple days later started uncomfortably to say the least.

“Hey,” Emma said as she walked in and set her bag down next to the cauldron.

“Hey,” Regina replied, also unsure of how to act but deciding to pretend nothing had happened was best. “Today we’ll work on the Calming Draught.”

“Okay, yeah.” Emma grabbed her potions textbook, flipping through until she found the appropriate page. She set about making the potion as always, but this time she could tell Regina was paying closer attention, for all she mostly kept her comments to herself.

In fact, she didn’t say anything until Emma got to the third step. “Wait,” Regina reached out to still Emma’s hand, “How many shrivelfigs have you prepared?”

“Five, why?” Emma asked nervously.

“You need nine.”

“Really?” Emma leaned closer to the book, pushing her glasses up on her nose. “Oh, right. Sorry.” She immediately set to skinning another four figs.

Regina frowned, aside from the incident last time, Emma had gotten the ingredient numbers wrong before. Regina had presumed it was simple carelessness or laziness, but what if it wasn’t. Regina went over to the chalk board and wrote down a three-digit number. “Miss Swan, what does this say?”

Emma looked up, frowning. Once she saw what Regina was pointing at she leaned forward, squinting. “Five hundred and thirty-eight. Why?”

“Did you find that hard to read?” Regina asked, even though Emma had gotten it right. “It shouldn’t be. Is it possible you need new glasses?”

Emma blinked, new glasses? She glanced down at the textbook and the pieces clicked together. She felt herself flush, “Maybe, but I don’t know if I can get new ones.” The ones she had were a donation and they did exactly get to be choosey about them.

“Madame Pomfrey can improve your prescription to a degree,” Regina said. “I know she’s done that for students before. Can I see yours?”

“Uh, sure,” Emma said, offering the glasses to the older student.

Regina studied them, noticing the wear and tear on the glasses and the small flecks in the lenses themselves. She considered them for a moment before placing them on the table. She drew out her wand and before Emma could object said, “ _Reparo!_ ”

They glowed slightly from the spell and then Regina picked them up once more to see most of the imperfections were gone or smaller. She gave a satisfied smile as she handed them back to Emma, “It’s not much, but at least the physical damage has been fixed to an extent. You should still go see Madame Pomfrey whenever you can to get them strengthened. A number of students don’t feel like taking a day off to go get their prescription changed at St Mungo’s.”

Regina offered the repaired glasses back to Emma, who accepted them with a nod. She gave them a look over, Reina had done a far better job with _reparo_ than Emma would have.

Emma couldn’t believe she hadn’t noticed her vision getting worse again. At least Regina had given her some actually useful advice. Emma felt a little uncomfortable, like she needed to reciprocate Regina’s obvious attempt at being helpful.

“I’m worried about the timing, for the potions,” Emma admitted. “Everything seems like it has to be so precise and exact. And it’s hard to see or hear the metronome clock by Gold’s desk.”

“Oh, yes, I can see if you’re not next to it… Here, Gold keeps spare smaller ones in one of his closets in the main classroom. You can ask to keep one for your table.”

“Really? That’s great.”

“Also, most of these potions, until you reach O.W.L.s or N.E.W.T.s have some flexibility with timing. Even though if the steps says ‘when the potion turns green, add the valerian sprigs’ you don’t need to do it immediately. It’s better to take a little longer making sure they are crushed correctly and measure accurately than to hastily add them,” Regina informed her.

“Oh,” Emma replied, feeling rather silly for not realizing that. She guessed it made sense. It just always felt like there were so many unspoken things everyone else knew instinctively that she didn’t.

Regina studied her carefully, “I think you get too overwhelmed by the instructions. I would recommend you read the potion steps before class, so that they are more familiar. It’s never good to read them for the first time when you go to make the potion.”

“I do read them ahead of time,” Emma protested, embarrassed Regina would think she wouldn’t even bother to do that much. “I just don’t remember them.”

“Hm, you could try copying them out by hand,” Regina suggested. “Not to read through or study later, but it’s a memory trick just to write them out so that you slow down and focus on the words. Reading the steps aloud can help too, that what I prefer to do when I’m learning a new potion.”

“Really?”

Regina nodded.

“Okay, I could give that a try.” Emma said, almost shyly.

Regina flushed before her eyes drifted to the cauldron. “Now it really is time to add the valerian.”

Emma rolled her eyes, but obligingly turned back to her potion. Each girl had a small smile on her face.

 

 

 

 


	17. Funny Running Into You Here

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Regina - Year 5  
> Emma - Year 4

"Ah-ha!"  
  
Regina barely managed to stifle a scream at the sudden voice as she whipped around, wand at the ready and glowing. Her eyes widened when she saw Emma’s head floating by the painting that was the entrance to Gryffindor.

Emma didn’t even savor the shocked expression on Regina’s normally unflappable face. “It’s you…” she said, surprise evident in her own voice. “You’re the one who’s been supplying Ruby with her Wolfsbane potion.”

Regina took a couple deep breaths and relaxed out of her defensive stance, smoothing down her hair. She looked back at Emma’s head after checking the corridor for anyone else and replied in a tone almost as cool as it was usually, “Oh, am I?”

Emma scowled and pulled the cloak off, draping it over one arm, which promptly disappeared. “Yes, dammit. I just caught you!” She punctuated the statement with an emphatic hand gesture. Emma rolled her eyes, as Regina narrowed hers, “You aren’t seriously trying to bluff me right now, are you?”

Regina scoffed before crossing her arms in front of herself, “Fine, fine,” she said, disgruntled. “Yes, it’s been me.” Regina’s eyes darted around before she came to a decision and nodded. “I’ll be leaving now.” She began to march down the corridor, but not before tossing a quiet, “Why do you even care?”

Emma hurried to follow after the older girl without a thought, “Because Ruby is my friend.” When they got to the bottom of a set of stairs and to a corridor with fewer pictures that could tattle, she grabbed Regina’s arm to turn her around. Regina flinched and whipped around quickly, causing Emma to immediately back off and let go, not that it stopped her from continuing on to her point, “The real question is why do _you_ care? I didn’t even think you _liked_ Ruby, let alone would go to so much trouble for her. Why are you doing this?”

Regina shoved her panic to the side and forced a haughty tone into her voice, raising her nose in the air and refusing to look at the younger student, “I don’t need to explain myself to you.”

Emma resisted the urge to throw her hands in the air, “God, how are you so difficult.” She took a deep breathe, _she’s trying to piss you off, Swan. Hold it together._  She released the breath. “I just wanted to thank you.”

Regina actually stopped short and looked Emma in the face for the first time since Emma had caught her. She looked completely taken aback. “Thank me?”

Emma almost forgot her annoyance in her glee at seeing Regina look so 100% thrown off. She’d never seen the put together fifth year look so surprised. “Obviously!” Emma huffed, rolling her yes and crossing her arms. “Ruby’s my best friend and that potion makes her feel so much safer and less horrible. Of course I wanted to thank the mysterious and very generous person who was giving it to her.”

“Oh,” Regina looked supremely confused before she tried to pull on her more usual expression. “Well, there’s no need. I’m not doing it for her.”

“You’re not” Emma said flatly. “Then why are you doing it?”

“I wanted to see if I could,” Regina said with a casual shrug.

“What.” Every time Emma thought she understood what the brunette was going for…

Regina sighed, before explaining as if it should be obvious, “The Wolfsbane potion is one of the hardest potions to brew and I wanted to see if I could do.”

Emma looked at her with such skepticism, Regina had a hard time ignoring it and continuing her purposeful walk to her dormitory. “Then why bring it to Ruby? Why keep making it?” Emma pressed.

Regina sniffed and continued in her most patient ‘I shouldn’t even have to explain this to you” voice, “Because Miss Lucas is the only person here who could use it and if I went to all that trouble, she might as well use it.”

“But why keep making it?” Emma persisted. “Why keep her secret?”

“Because I felt like it,” Regina said exasperated, finally unable to keep her annoyance with Emma’s constant questioning. “Because practice makes perfect. Why would I tell on her? Obviously, the Headmaster knows. He believes she’s safe. If anything, my providing her with the potion is in my best interest as now myself, and everyone else in the castle, is safer.”

“She… You… Wow,” Emma tried to wrap her mind around the extremely roundabout answer Regina was giving her. Not that it was fooling her one bit, her inner lie detector was calling bullshit. “I thought I was bad at accepting thanks.”

Regina suppressed a blush, “I already told you, there’s no need. My interest is purely selfish.” Finally, _finally_ , they reached the Ravenclaw tower and she felt some relief trickle through her. How had it taken so much longer to get here than it usually did? She turned her back on the door to face Emma. “Now, if that’s all, it’s late and I need to get some rest.

“Oh, of course, gotta have that beauty sleep,” Emma joked, not that Regina needed it, her mind couldn’t help adding. “Whatever.” She shook her head before smirking at the other girl, but backing off, she could tell when someone was too stubborn for their own good. “You can’t fool me, Navar—I know you’ve got a soft spot now!” Emma called back to Regina.

“Good _night_ , Miss Swan,” Regina said decisively as she went up to her dorm room.

-x-x-x-

Regina blinked as she moved her eyes away from the book she was reading, mind still trying to process all the information she’d just learned. She shook her head a bit as her eyes adjusted and she looked around the library. A quick glance behind her told her the sun had long since set although not much else. With the gentle orange light from the lanterns hovering around her, it could be any time after six. She’d definitely missed dinner though.

The thought seemed to be enough to remind her mouth that it was dry. She reached for her mug of tea only to see that it was long since empty. She sighed and picked up her wand.

“ _Aguamenti_ ,” she said, frowning in concentration as she waved her wand over the mug. Still a new charm for her, but she was able to generate a steady stream of water, as if her wand was the spout of a kettle, and filled her mug. She took a sip, nice and clean, but room temperature—she still needed to work on conjuring it cold.

Once she’d restored moisture to her mouth, she stood up with a groan and stretched. As much as she loved getting lost in a good book, the library chairs were hell on her back—probably because she’d sat at one of the study tables and they were designed to keep bored students from nodding off as they studied.

With a groan she sat back down and started to organize her initial notes on this potion techniques. This particular book was from the restricted section as it went over the use and misuses of several rare and dangerous ingredients. Gold had given her special permission to access it, but as with almost all restricted books—she couldn’t take it out of the library.

Luckily, she could take it out of the restricted section itself. Lucky because the whole section was creepy, lacked good tables, and was full of strange noises. Still, she’d chosen a spot nearby to maximize her reading time and minimize distraction from other students. Madame Pince regularly patrolled the sections closest to the Restricted area, making sure those who didn’t have permission were not lurking or trying to break in.

She’d made it nearly halfway through the book and while none of the ingredients were anything she would use in a potion she would sell, some of the materials were used in the potions they were currently studying. This book contained far more information about how to use them in a variety of ways and the different techniques were what she hoped to use. If meltwater from artic ice could be used to temper dragon tears then meltwater from ordinary ice that had been long frozen would likely help control the fire salamander saliva that was frequently used in her warming potions, which had a tendency to be unpredictable. She often had to adjust a batch multiple times to achieve the perfect temperature.

The whole book was full of interesting uses, counter balances, and combinations which she could apply to ordinary potions. She wanted to keep reading, but she was fairly certain given the way her writing was starting to slant and the way her eyes still felt a bit unfocused that she’d been at it for too long. Just how long had she been in here? And where was a timepiece when you needed one?

With a sigh, she slid her notes into her bags and slung it over her shoulder. A wave of her wand made the lanterns that were hovering around her, attracted by her presence, begin their journey back to their brackets.

Regina picked up the book and tapped the lettering on the front cover in alphabetical order. Once she hit the last “u” in _Critical and Capricious Components_ , the cover grew over ends of the pages until it looked like the book was in a box. The book properly sealed up, she gave the table one last sweep before stepping off the platform and onto the air.

The invisible steps made solid by _solidius_ and used by upper students to reach the higher up study tables. She carefully made her way down a few steps, winding until she was under the platform she’d previously been standing on. With her wand she traced the figure on the the bottom of its floor and sealed it with the wizard’s knot. Instantly, the figure glowed green and the table went intangible and invisible except for a faint outline, waiting for the next student who needed it to conjure it into being.

Regina gave a satisfied nod before carefully making her winding way down the ground, past various shelf outcroppings and floating stacks. A glance around as she descended told her no one else seemed to be using the back atrium at the moment.

Once she reached the ground, she headed for the Restricted section. Regina nodded to madame Pince when the older witch passed. As usual, the librarian always looked nicer when she was returning books than when she was checking them out. Regina pressed her signed pas from gold to the gate separating the Restricted section from the rest of the library and they opened obligingly.

Taking care to ensure she didn’t get lost, she made her way through the confusing twists and turns of the section until she got to the shelf her potions book had originally come from. The shelf looked as though no book was missing, but once she held up her text, a space opened up for her to fill.

As Regina was making her way back to the rest of the library, she began to feel like she was being watched. In fact, she was sure she was being followed, she was sure of it. Regina turned a corner and silently raced down to the end of aisle to ambush whoever it might be.

As the other person turned the blind corner, and before they could see that she’d hidden herself in the shadows, Regina incanted, “ _Immobulus_!”

Her stalker instantly froze having been caught completely off guard. Regina scowled as she walked back to her frozen pursuer, gesturing for a lantern to follower her as the light was very poor in the restricted area. “Now, just what do you think you’re doing?”

Then she got close enough to make out the yellow Hufflepuff badger on a black jumper and the matching blonde hair. “Miss Swan?!”

Emma stood there, frozen mid step with only her eyes to give away her panic.  She made a muffled noise, hampered by her jaw’s refusal to move.

Regina rolled her eyes and stepped up to the frozen girl, “Very well, I’ll release you. Don’t strain yourself.” She realized she’d cast the spell a bit strongly and so decided the quickest way to free the frozen Hufflepuff was to cast, “ _Finite_.” She tapped Emma definitively on her arm.

Instantly Emma sagged where she stood. “Bloody hell, Navar.” She rubbed her jaw and then exaggeratedly stretched. “You can’t just go around cursing people!”

Regina folded her arms and proceeded to look extremely unamused by Emma’s theatrics. “You can’t sneak around the Restricted section and stalk people without expecting consequences.”

Emma looked offended, “Hang on, what? I wasn’t following you, geez, full of yourself much?”

Regina raised a skeptical eyebrow, “Then what were you doing?”

Emma rolled her eyes, “Looking for a book, duh? Why else would I be here? In the _library_?” She put extra emphasis on the last word.

Regina narrowed her eyes, Emma sounded confident in her answer and yet, Regina wasn’t buying it. Maybe it was how quietly she was talking. Sure, it could be that Emma was simply respecting the fact that they were in a library, but Regina didn’t think that was why. She thought Emma was worried about being caught. “You aren’t just in the library though, you’re in the restricted section.” Emma fidgeted at that and Regina knew she was right, “And for some reason I feel like you do not have a check-out slip signed by a professor to be here.”

Emma gave another dramatic eyeroll and started to walk past Regina, “God, you’re so judge-y, it’s-it’s just very rude of you to just assume that. I don’t have to listen to this.”

Regina was not so easily shaken from the truth. She followed Emma, keeping up with the blonde’s pace. “So, you do have one? A permission slip?”

“Could I be in here if I didn’t?” Emma scoffed.

“That’s not answer,” Regina pointed out. Now she was at the very least sure that Emma had no idea where she was going.

“Yes, I do have one,” Emma said, gritting her teeth in annoyance at the inquisition.

“Really?” Regina pressed, enjoying herself. She almost had Emma, she could sense it. “From who? For what book?”

They turned a corner at a quick walk only for Emma to be surprised when they hit a dead end. She turned around to see Regina partially blocking the way with a smug expression on her face. “That’s-that’s none of your business.”

“No, no, I insist.” Regina gave her a smile that was not at all comforting as she adopted a fake apologetic tone, “After falsely accusing you, I’d like to help you find whatever book you’re searching for, especially since you look lost.”

Emma glared at her before throwing her hands in the air, “Urgh, you suck. Fine, I don’t have permission to be here,” she said petulantly. “Happy?”

“I knew it,” Regina said triumphantly. “How’d you even get in here without Madame Pince catching you?”

Emma sighed and then reached into her bag, simply pulling out the corner of her invisibility cloak.

“Ah, I should have known.” Regina’s face then scrunched up questioningly, “Why on earth did you take it off then? “

“It gets hot under there!” Emma protested. “And it was hard to look with it draped all over me. I kept tripping on it.”

“So, what _are_ you doing here?”

Emma deflated slightly, “I really am looking for a book.”

Regina was interested in spite of herself, “What kind of book?”

“It’s kinda hard to explain.”

“Try me.”

“Well, there was this group that ended up killing my parents.” Regina nodded to show she understood and Emma could see her demeanor change to a more serious one. “Right, well, there was this curse that got cast on my mother's friends, one that she helped make to protect originally, but it ended up, well, being pretty bad for them actually. Made a bunch of them think they were muggles."

“Yes, I have heard something about that,” Regina was frowning as she thought back to one of the more recent topics her mother had spoken about. She despised most things to do with muggles and the idea of being cursed to think she was one had incensed her. “It was the main reason the recent law changed so that any wizard or witch afflicted by a curse, even if it erased their knowledge of magic, must be treated at St. Mungo's.”

“Yeah?” Emma hadn’t know that, no one had said anything about laws... She shook her head and refocused. “Well, I heard there was a book in the Restricted section that curses that took away your ability to use magic.”

Now Regina looked concerned, her voice was quiet but firm, “Why would you want that book, Emma?”

Emma noticed the change in the other girl, but didn’t know the cause. Her mind was too clouded by memories, “Because last year I had to deal with one of those curses and I didn't know what to do until the very end. I wanted to read the book, so that if I ever faced a cure like that again, I’d know how.”

“I see.” Regina seemed to consider her for a moment before nodding slowly. Then she turned around and started walking back the way they came. Emma stared after her blankly until Regina said, “Are you coming?”

“Uh, yeah. I guess,” as she hurried after the other girl.

Emma followed Regina as she turned down various aisles, only back tracking once, as Regina read titles and signs in written symbols Emma didn’t understand. Soon Emma was distracted by the fact that they were going much deeper into this section than she even thought there was to go.

Finally they stopped in front of the newest looking books that she’d seen if this section. They still looked more like journals, than real published books, but new—new enough that someone probably had to peel off price stickers. “This is the Muggle Studies section,” Regina announced. “Rather controversial section, well hidden.”

Emma looked over the section with new interest, “How do you know about it?”

“Mother hates muggles,” Regina said quietly. “She never would have allowed me to take the class, even for one year—I never bothered to ask. But… I was curious. My father’s family… we don’t speak to them much, Mother doesn’t like it. One of the reasons is that they are..less discerning when it comes to who they marry. Puerto Rico, where most live, has a less strict Code of Secrecy. I have relatives who are muggles. And Papi has always told me that they are worth learning about, seeing as they make up the majority of the human population. Some people would have us believe muggles and wizardkind are different races, different species—but we are not.”

Emma kept silent throughout Regina’s speech, she had the distinct impression Regina had never talked about this aloud, had never told anyone her thoughts on this issue so plainly and so she kept silent. She’d known Regina was a pureblood and she’d assumed that some of her condescension had been born out of assumptions about Emma’s muggle upbringing. Perhaps she had been wrong…

Regina seemed to shake herself out of her thoughts and blushed a bit, “Forgive me for rambling. After reading some of the books in the rest of library I was interested in learning more about the muggle Great Wars. Most of that is here,” she gestured at the top shelf, “due to the rather gruesome descriptions of muggle war technology. And because there is so much death in them. We are so much fewer, more muggles died in a single year of these wars as live in Europe today.”

“Yeah,” Emma said quietly. “I don’t understand why its not required here. We have parents and relatives who live in their world, and we all live in this one, but isn’t it really the same world?”

Silence filled the space between them, considering, but not awkward.

Regina broke it, “Did you have a title?”

“No,” Emma shook her head and her curls moved with the motion. “I didn’t hear about a specific book.”

“Hm,” Regina acknowledged. They both surveyed the shelf in silence. After a few minutes, Regina pulled down a book after checking the markings on the wood of the shelves to be sure it wasn’t booby-trapped in some way.

" _Magical Removal, Represion, and Obscurial: Consequences and Restorative Practices_ ,” Regina read, before attempting to open it. A voice came from the book, sounding strangely false, “ _What’s the magic word?_ ”

Regina frowned at while Emma let out a little laugh and jokingly said the first thing that came to mind, “Abracadabra.”

To both girls’ surprise, the book fell open in Regina’s hands. When Regina looked at Emma questioningly, Emma just shook her head and refused to share how she had known the password. Regina shrugged and turned to the publication page. “It was only written five years ago. This is probably the book you’re looking for.”

Emma took it cautiously. “Thanks, I never would have been able to find this.”

“You’re welcome,” Regina replied. “Make sure you bring that back for at least one night every five days – all books from the restricted section have a failsafe since no one can take them out for that long, even with permission. You don’t want to know what happens if you don’t.”

“Got it.” Emma said solemnly.

Without saying a word, Emma slipped the book into her bag and both headed for the exit, Regina leading.

A not exactly uncomfortable silence descended, as they wound their way between the dark shelves of the Restriction section. It was broken by a loud growling noise, which made Emma look around wildly until she realized what it was. She turned to Regina in surprise and found her blushing.

Emma let out a loud laugh she couldn’t contain, “Oh my god, was that your stomach?”

“Shut up,” Regina said, quickening her pace and refusing to look at the blonde.

Emma rolled her eyes, “Come on, its funny, you can admit it.” Regina continued to look forward in stony silence and her blush refused to fade. “Here, now I know how to make it up to you for helping me out—I know a back way into the kitchens, we can get some food.”

“Of course you do,” Regina scoffed, but slowed her pace. Emma wasn’t sure what that was supposed to mean before Regina continued, “Hufflepuffs always do.”

“I take that as a compliment then.”

“You would.”

“Does that mean you don’t want me to show you? What did you have for dinner?”

Regina shrugged, “I was reading. I take it I missed dinner.”

“Are you serious? Its 10 o’clock!” Emma sounded positively horrified at the idea of not eating for so long.

They abruptly fell silent as they approached the exit to the section, Emma pulling out her cloak and disappearing from view. Emma followed Regina so silently through into the normal section of the library, passed Madame Pince’s desk, even though it was empty.

In fact, Regina had almost thought Emma had snuck away completely until she heard rustling and Emma haphazardly came into view. Her hair looked ridiculous from the cloaks hood and she grinned, “So Ravenclaw of you, missing meals to read.”

Regina rolled her eyes, but a small smile creeped out. “Whatever.” Emma didn’t think she’d ever heard the other girl say anything so casual. “I suppose you can take me there, if it will make you feel better about accepting my help.”

“Oh yeah, definitely. That’s why.” Emma turned once they made it into the castle corridor and made a sweeping gesture, “Follow me, Miss Navar, so that I can shower you in my thanks.”

Regina stuck her chin out, “Quite right of you.”

-x-x-x-

Emma stretched, popping her shoulder as made her way to the broomshed. She pulled out her wand to tap the lock to the Hufflepuff brooms and went to grab the one she’d claimed. She stifled a yawn as she took it out. While she felt bad about missing practice due to detention, given to her by Professor Binns for arguing with him regarding dwarf representation in class and asking why they never read anything from non-wizards, she wasn’t exactly happy about having to make up the practice tonight. She rubbed her side from where she’d hit it falling off her step ladder and into a pillar after spending over an hour cleaning crown molding.

Suddenly, she heard a sound through the open doorway into the other team’s section of the shed opposite her and the faint light from another’s wand became known.

While she had been told by her captain she needed to make up the practice ASAP, doing it after curfew wasn’t actually allowed. But who else could be sneaking around in here? Was someone trying to sabotage the broomsticks? She swallowed and brought her wand up, “Who’s there?”

There was a silent pause before a confused and cautious voice said, “Emma?”

Instantly, relief flooded through Emma as she lowered her wand. “Regina?” Sure enough, soon the other girl, also holding her lit wand in front of her in one hand and a broomstick in the other came around the corner. “What are you doing here?”

Regina scowled. “Why do you keep showing up?” Regina seemed to be asking herself the question instead of Emma.

Emma gave her a cheeky grin, regaining all of her equilibrium at a chance to bother the serious-minded witch, “Because I’m just like that.” Then her eyes narrowed, “You don’t play Quidditch, why are breaking into the broomshed?”

Regina opened her mouth, but evidently couldn’t think of a good lie. Instead what came out was, “I like to fly.”

Emma blinked at her in confusion, “And you thought the middle of the night was the perfect time to do that?”

Emma’s incredulous tone was enough to shake Regina somewhat back to normal. She crossed her arms in front of her and pointed out, “And what exactly are you here doing?”

Emma blinked and then coughed, “Touché.”

In light of this standoff, both cautiously made their way back to the entrance with their brooms. Once outside, the full moon provided enough light they simultaneously extinguished their wands. Regina looked extremely uncomfortable and simply jumped onto her broom and took off.

Emma automatically followed her. Having finally thought of a good retort she flew up next to her, “You know, I’m at least allowed to be in my broomshed, even if not this late. You on the other hand were coming out of the Gryffindor shed if I’m not mistake.”

Regina stiffened and then she rolled her eyes, “It becomes obvious if you take the same broom out repeatedly so I switch—” She stopped talking abruptly as if realizing what she’d just admitted.

Emma nearly laughed, talk about a Ravenclaw’s love of explaining their own logic being their downfall, “Just how often do you break into the broomsheds?”

Regina turned her head, but didn’t fly off. “None of your business.”

Emma did laugh this time as she flew around to Regina’s other side to try to meet her gaze. “Oh, I think it is. On behalf of all the Quidditch teams, I think I owe it tell them they should all replace their locks, don’t you think?”

Emma caught Regina’s rather scared expression and immediately knew she’d come on too strong, “Whoa! Sorry.” She rubbed the back of her neck, “Just kidding. I think its actually pretty hilarious you’ve been using all the brooms and no one’s noticed. I just don’t get why.”

Regina relaxed at that, but could feel Emma’s questioning gaze on her. Emma’s lack of turning her in deserved some sort of response. She found herself admitting, “I was on my house team as second year.”

Emma felt her eyebrows lift in surprise.  Regina? Perfect student, nerdy about all things potions related, had played quidditch well enough to get on her house team as a second year. “Really? You must have been good then, second years rarely make it.”

“I was,” Regina said quietly, remembering.

Something about Regina’s story stirred Emma’s memory, “Wait, I think I heard about that.” Fuzzy memories from her first year, trying to follow Ruby and David’s excited Quidditch ramblings when she only barely understood the game. “Seeker, right? Ravenclaw had to scramble to find a new one.”

“Yes.” Regina didn’t know what else to say beyond that. It was still one of the events she was most upset with her mother over, Mother taking that away from her, even if Mother didn’t realize how much she took away. She could still imagine what it would have been like to be part of that team for years, flying on it for years, what that would have felt like. She stared straight ahead.

Emma could tell from Regina’s carefully blank tone of voice, with its single hint of wistfulness that her leaving had not been by choice. She knew she should probably let it be, but she couldn’t help herself. Regina was such a mystery. She was being strangely forthcoming under the night sky. Emma couldn’t pass up the opportunity. “Why…?”

Regina had been expecting the question, Emma was never one to keep her thoughts or questions to herself. She sort of liked the idea of telling someone though—no one in her house ever brought it up—most had probably forgotten by now anyways, “Mother hates Quidditch, she forbade me from playing or even going near the brooms outside of class. She told Professor Flitcwick that so I’m banned, even now.”

Emma actually pulled back a little from surprise before catching up again. That also explained why Regina was breaking in at night to fly. Usually students could check out brooms with Madame Hooch’s permission, but not if their head of house forbade it. “Wow, that’s harsh.”

Regina let out a breathless little laugh, that was such an Emma thing to say. She was glad though, when Emma didn’t try to push it further, didn’t try to ask if she’d tried changed Mother’s mind, or anything like what her fellow Ravenclaws would have said. She didn’t need to. “Yes.”

Emma wanted to break the tension. She could tell from Regina’s confident broom handling that she was a good flyer who hadn’t lost her edge since she’d been banned. “Wanna race?” she asked, saying the first thing that came to mind.

Regina looked over at her with an eyebrow raised and met her gaze steadily for what felt like the first time all night, “Do you think you’re up to the challenge, Swan?”

“Hey!” Emma protested, even as she felt a rush of pride at having gotten Regina back to her usual self. “I’m a great flyer, I’m on my house team!”

Regina almost snorted, Emma was too easy. “As a beater,” she said dismissively, but with enough of a mischievous twinkle in her eye, she knew Emma would be able to tell she was mostly kidding.

Not that it stopped the blonde from squawking, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Regina turned her head to the side, “Nothing.”

Emma mock scowled, “Oh, it’s on then Navar.” She stopped in the air to hover, and marked out the course with arm gestures, “We start here at the edge of the pitch, three loops around the Whomping Willow, through all the southern bridge arches, and end at big rock at the south end of the lake. Sound good?”

Regina smirked and pulled a pair of Quidditch googles from her pocket, “Fine by me.”

Emma blinked in surprise before grinning and doing the same. “Count down together?”

Regina nodded her agreement.

“Three, two, one—go!”

They both shot off for the tree at high speed.  They were fairly neck and neck all the way to the tree, Regina flying under and to the right of Emma.

The tree loomed still in the distance as they neared it and Emma shifted her focus from racing Regina, to planning her flight around the tree, since while they were doing these laps, it was her real opponent.

Without discussing it they each flew to opposite sides. The Whoomping Willow didn’t stay quiet for long, as soon as the were within the reach of tis branches it woke up violently, untwisting from its more contained resting stance. “Fucking hell,” Emma yelped, as she adjusted her path, having underestimated its reach, regardless of how many times she’d played dare with it.

Regina was focused in, she didn’t want to get too close to the trunk and she didn’t want to stray too far since that would give her too large of a circle to complete. Besides, getting a bit too close was part of the fun. And it was, her eyes narrowed in tight concentration, the wind and branches whipping around her, all of her senses alive. As she tracked both the willow and Emma, she felt alive in a way she hadn’t since that last Quidditch game.

She stifled a whoop as she dodged and rolled, nearly missing a thick branch and then had to dive to avoid Emma herself heading wildly in the other direction. She did have the presence of mind to yell, “One more!” she didn’t need to hear Emma’s response, she knew the other girl would be cursing.

Her grin sharpened as she went in for a tighter circle than before, keeping very low to her broom so that she was basically laying own on it. She rolled again as she made the end of her circle and pulled off towards the bridge.

Emma was only a few seconds behind her, but Regina now had a solid lead. Not that she was going to get too cocky. She let the thrill of victory spread through her but didn’t let up even an ounce of her speed. The bridge seemed far away before it was suddenly there and she arched over the roof to dive and turn under the first arch. The rolling forward dives and tight turns were messing with her head a bit but she stayed focus on the image of the bridge in her mind, not the blurry world she was seeing through her goggles.

That did have a small downside when she nearly flew into some sort of bird lurking under the eaves and it slowed her down some, but when she came out from under the last arch and over the roof to head east along the river to the lake she was still ahead.

She pushed her broom faster and let her ride become bumpier and less smooth—every bit of speed she could eek out was worth it. Regina could hang on for the ride, as long as she won.

The pair sped along the lake, wind in their ears and moon high overhead. Emma was about two broom lengths behind Regina, but no matter how she pushed, she wasn’t closing the gap fast enough. If she hadn’t seen Regina was on one of the older school brooms just like her, she’d be tempted to think she just had a faster model. But she didn’t, Regina was just that good.

The large bolder, with a flattened off top popular for students who liked to study out in the sun on the rare days it showed itself, was looming fast in the distance and she’d only managed to get half a length closer.

Regina blew over it, sending stray twigs and dust flying up in her wake. Not wanting to breathe that in Emma, veered around the rock, circling as she slowed her broom down.

Regina was doing the same until they both managed to touch down on their finish line properly.

“Holy shit, Regina.”

Regina was panting from the exhilaration and when she turned to face Emma she was grinning in a way Emma had never seen before. “You did better than I thought you would, Swan. I’m impressed.”

“Not as much as I am. Damn.” Emma almost said she could see why Regina had made her house team as a second year, only to swallow her words. She didn’t want to remind Regina of that now.

She blurted out the first thing she could think of instead, “You should come to the Half.” Regina merely raised an eyebrow as they drifted aimlessly along the edge of the lake. “If the half moon is on the weekend, a bunch of us have races. You should come.”

“This isn’t just a bunch of lower years, is it?”

“Nope,” Emma said, popping the “p”. “Under third isn’t invited. Mostly sixth and fifth really. Seventh years have more flexible schedules and are more likely to just ask for official permission to borrow the brooms.”

“Maybe I will then,” Regina said idly, pulling up on her broom so the bristles lightly skimmed the water before lowering her hand to do that same.

“Show-off,” Emma grumbled, knowing if she tried to pull a stunt like that she would definitely fall head first into the lake.

Regina actually laughed and then flicked some droplets at Emma. “Race you back?” she asked, already leveling her broom back down.

“You’re on.”

-x-x-x-

Regina had noticed the day was particularly cloudy and knew when it still was by the evening that it would be a good time to go visit Rocinante. She ate a quick dinner, grabbing meat for Rocinante and some of the other thestrals.

As Regina drew closer to the clearing she most often was able to attract them to, she thought she started to hear slight noises that suggested there might already be thestrals in the clearing. The surprised her, while they would come when she did, normally relatively quickly—more so if she had food—she’d never come to find them already there.

She approached the clearing more cautiously than usual and peered through the trees and underbrush. At first, she didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, except for the four or so thestrals that had gathered there.

She went forward, only to stop when she saw light reflect strangely is the leaves of the largest tree and noticed someone in school robes was sitting in its branches.

Regina froze instantly, she’d never see another person here. Did they even know the thestrals were there?

Then she blinked, something seemed familiar about the blonde girl. She squinted and her eyes widened as she realized she did recognize the person sitting there, legs dangling, hands on the branch, hair falling loosely around her. The light Regina had seen was the sun reflecting off her glasses.

“Emma?” Regina asked automatically, too surprised to keep the question to herself.

Emma’s head turned slowly from where she had been studying the thestrals, for all that she must have been surprised to hear Regina. She blinked blankly at Regina, half hidden in the leaves both of them were, Emma’s eyes still found hers very quickly. “Hey.”

“Hey,” Regina replied, too baffled to say anything else.

Regina stepped further into the clearing and Rocinante finally noticed her. The thestral broke away from the others and came right up to her, snuffling for treats. “Hi, yes, how are you today?” Out of the corner she could see Emma stiffen further, but whether it was because Regina could see the thestrals too or because Emma couldn’t see them and Regina seemed to be petting and talking to thin air, she wasn’t sure. She ignored the Hufflepuff for now, focusing on Rocinante. “Can you tell that I’ve got something for you? I know you can. Here you are.”

Regina pulled some of the food she’d brought out of a canvas bag Professor Lucas had given her the first time she’d asked what thestrals liked to eat. Lucas hadn’t asked how she could see them or if she knew where to find the Forbidden Forests thestrals, she’d just given her the bag and told her what to ask the house elves for. Regina appreciated that.

“You can see them?” Emma asked quietly, still not having moved from her precarious position.

“Yes. I take it you can as well.” She caught sight of Emma’s blonde head nodding out of the corner of her eye.

Rocinante and the other thestrals seemed to have been politely ignoring Emma. However, now that Regina was talking to her, Rocinante seemed to be taking an interest. The thestrals starts to move closer to her, sniffing curiously.

Emma tensed ever so slightly when he stepped closer, freezing. Rocinante took another couple steps, Regina following him, and Emma watched him very carefully. Regina patted him on the side, but also gave a little nudge, causing him to look back at her. She tilted her head ever so slightly in Emma’s direction. He snorted softly, but stopped moving closer.

“How long have you been able to see them?” Emma asked carefully, but without judgement—merely simple curiosity. Her whole body still tense, but not actively afraid—just watchful. Wary.

“Since last year,” Regina replied as she continued to pat Rocinante. “They’re gentle creatures. I’ve always liked horses.”

Emma slowly turned from the thestral in front of her to look at Regina, then she closer, resting her weight on her arms, which were holding onto the thick branch she was. Her hands griped the branch in a manner that belied her calm.

Regina wanted to help Emma calm down. Rocinante coming closer had evidently ruined any confidence she’d gained while here by herself with the thestrals ignoring her. To distract Emma, she said the first thing that came to mind, “We breed horses, my family.” Regina frowned, “Well, my father’s family really, Mother is in politics. Still, its more a hobby than anything else for Papi, but winged horses of a particular breed primarily are our specialty. Do you know much about horses?”

Emma shook her head, her hands slowly become less white from her grip. She seemed at least to be listening.

“I suppose not,” Regina continued. “Growing up in London. There are a number of magical horse breeds. Many of them tend to mirror non-magical horse breeds to an extent. Papi’s family primarily breeds Paso Finos—of both the winged and the nonmagical varieties. Some people speak against crossbreeding, but often breeding in with nonmagical stock helps keep the bloodlines from getting to inbreed and can add stability to…” Regina found herself rambling on about her father’s breeding business for a while as she continued to stroke Rocinante.

Slowly, slowly, Emma began to lose some of her tight tension and relax. Until after a few minutes of listening to Regina talk about horses, she was leaning forward against the branch, her head coming down to rest on her arms. Her entire posture much more casual.

“Wow. You know a lot about horses,” Emma said, her eyes steady on Regina.

Regina flushed, but before she could say anything, Emma slowly rose from her position against the branch. “Do you think I could…?” Emma trailed off, gesturing at Rocinante.

“Oh!” Regina had just hoped to calm Emma down, she never expected the other girl would want to meet Rocinante. “Of course. Thestrals are gentle but must be approached calmly. They do better when they know people can’t see them.”

Emma actually cracked a small smile, “I can relate to that.”

Regina raised a brow at that, remembering Emma’s extremely high-quality invisibility cloak. “I suppose you can.”

Emma ducked her head sheepishly, but slowly swung a leg of the branch so that she was sitting side saddle, her hands on either side of her. Then with a push, she jumped down to land a few meters away from Regina and Rocinante.

“Thestrals are gentle creatures who appreciate calm,” Regina explained as she beckoned Emma closer. “Have you met any of them yet?”

Emma shook her head, eyeing the thestrals as she took a few steps closer.

“They have very good senses of direction and like owls can find locations with ease, once you tell them where you’d like to go,” Regina’s voice was now a blend of the tone she’d been using when describing her family horses and what Emma personally considered her ‘lecture’ voice from when Regina was tutoring her. It was surprising how much her self-assured tone was comforting. Regina seemed to know exactly what she was doing. Emma took a few steps until she was standing right next to Regina. “Hogwarts’ domesticated herd is extremely well trained and very clever.”

“Hold out your hand just under his beak, but let him bring his head down,” Regina instructed, demonstrating what she meant for Emma.

Emma hesitantly stuck her hand out next to Regina’s. Rocinante’s white eyes focused briefly on Emma’s face, before he leaned down to nudge her hand.

“There you go,” Regina said encouragingly, “I call him ‘Rocinante’.”  Regina stroked along his side, before his wings. “He seems to be the most friendly of them, or at least the most curious.”

Emma cautiously brought her hand to his neck, lightly petting him. “yeah?”

“Yeah,” Regina nodded at the other thestrals still ambling nearby. “They don’t seem to care about me much one way or the other, Rocinante always comes over. Maybe he’s just the greediest. Is that it? Always looking for treats, huh?”

Rocinante tossed his head a bit and gave her a thestral blank stare. Emma watched as Regina smiled and brought out a second bag, “You knew I had more on me, didn’t you?”

Rocinante made a low squaking noise that was more similar to a bird’s call than a horses and nosed closer. Regina brought out a carefully wrapped piece of raw meat which she tossed to him.

Emma would have thought Regina was too proper to ever hold dripping meat but she’d seen how easily she used and measured all sorts of potions ingredients from their lessons without batting an eye. Regina was probably the least squeamish person she knew. Emma shook her head as she began to run her fingers through Rocinante’s black mane, which was extremely soft and glossy compared to what she’d expected.

Regina looked back to Emma after she finished feeding Rocinante. Rocinante licked her fingers clean and Emma finally seemed at ease with the thestral. Regina smiled and said, “See? They’re not so bad.”

Emma looked from her to the thestral and back, before she rolled her eyes with a smile on her face, “Yeah, I guess not.”


	18. Patronus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Emma - Year 4  
> Regina - Year 5

“Oh, my, god,” Ruby said as she pulled out the chair next to Emma in the Hufflepuff study room they tended to use and sat down backwards on it. Unlike the other common rooms, people from all the houses were allowed in the Hufflepuff dorms as long as a Puff let them in. Consequently, Hufflepuff had extra hang out and study rooms and was pretty popular with most of the other houses—its proximity to the kitchens didn’t hurt either.

Emma looked up from history essay she did not want to be writing, eager for anything distracting. It’d been a little lonely since MM and David started going on little dates around the castle on the weekends and so she’d been hanging out with Ruby more often. Ruby always had better gossip than anyone else, something Emma hadn’t thought would be nearly as interesting as it normally turned out to be. “What?”

“You’ll never guess what I just saw,” Ruby said, practically bouncing up and down with excitement.

Emma rolled her eyes as Ruby failed to get the point, the Gryffindor loved a captive audience. “What?”

“Okay, so, you know Regina, right?” she said, eyes lit up the way they tended to when she something really good that she’d gathered herself. “Used to tutor me in potions?”

Emma raised an eyebrow, “You mean the girl currently tutoring me, yeah—I’m familiar.”

Ruby laughed, “Right, right. Well, guess who I just found snogging it up on the astronomy tower?”

Emma’s eyes went wide and her mouth fell open, “What? No way.” Regina seemed way to proper to make out in the astronomy tower, which was notorious for couples to sneak up to due to its many closets and hidden nooks.

“Yeah,” Ruby said, clearly pleased at the complete command of Emma’s attention she now had, just as Ruby had hoped. “I went up because I forgot one of my star charts in the classroom and I nearly walked into them! Super awkward, right? Actually,” Ruby corrected herself, “super _scary_. I thought they were gonna murder me. Together. And then resume making out over my smoldering remains.”

Emma hadn’t even known Regina was dating anyone, she was dying to know who could possibly have gotten Regina’s attention. “Who was she with?”

“That’s the best part, you know Mal Drake? Seventh year Slytherin, very into dragons?” Ruby said and Emma nodded, she knew of the Slytherin keeper, at least enough to recognize her. “It was her!”

Emma felt her chest get tight for some reason as she tried to process this information, “I didn’t know Regina liked girls.”

“I didn’t know she liked anything besides potions,” Ruby countered. “Seriously, I figured she only left that dungeon room because she had to go to her other classes to maintain her perfect Ravenclaw grades.”

Emma couldn’t help but laugh at that and gave Ruby a light shove. “Come on, Rubes, she’s not that bad.”

“Isn’t she though?” Ruby asked dubiously. “And this wasn’t like a quick kiss either, they’d clearly been there a while.” She fell back against the chair with a sigh, “It was extremely hot, why do the attractive ones always pair up with each?”

Emma could barely hold back asking way to specific questions, “I don’t know. Why do the scary ones always pair up?”

“Right?” Ruby said. “I thought they were gonna set me on fire for interrupting—no spells needed. Just—whoosh! No more Ruby, Granny would be sad, but unsurprised.”

Emma laughed even as she pictured some of the glares Regina had given her when they first started working together, “I can definitely see her being able to make that happen. I’m so glad you survived. Why is Regina so hot when she’s mad?”

Ruby shook her head, “Too scary for me. I value my life too much to seriously consider dating someone like that, thank you very much. I’d knock over one of her potion bottles and then she’d murder me.”

“But what a way to go….” Emma said wistfully, before they exchanged a look and laughed.

“True, true,” Ruby agreed. “Alas, I survived to do homework for another night.”

“So tragic.”

-x-x-x-

A few days later at tutoring, Regina seemed to be in a particularly foul mood. Emma could tell she was trying to keep it herself and she was more short with Emma than insulting, but it was still obvious something was bothering her.

She’d set Emma to practicing dicing various ingredients and later she was going to test Emma on her ability to quickly measure out various portion sizes—from a pinch to a handful, all were actually a precise amount.

Finally, after Regina scribbled something out on her parchment so hard she ripped the page, Emma had to say something, “What’s going on?”

“What do you mean?” Regina said, not looking up as she cut the parchment below the tear and started her notes over again.

“Your bad mood,” Emma said and Regina did look up at that. “Come on, don’t try to deny it—your paper speaks for itself.”

Regina’s eyes flickered to her parchment before looking back at Emma. For a moment it looked briefly like she still wasn’t going to tell Emma but then she relented, “I’m just having some trouble with a Defense Against the Dark Arts spell.”

“Really?” Emma asked automatically, she thought Regina was top of her class. Regina glared at her and refused to answer. “Right, um, what spell?”

Regina stared at her for another few seconds before glancing down and then away, “You’re dicing the glabhurn tentacle instead of the probescus root.”

Emma looked down and cursed, before heading over to the shelves to grab more tentacle for wringing out instead of cutting.

As Emma cleaned off her cutting board, Regina said, “It’s the Patronus charm. It’s not required, but mastery basically guarantees extra points on your O.W.L.s.”

“Oh, yeah.” This time Emma kept her eye on what she was cutting, not Regina. “That’s a really hard spell.”

Regina looked at Emma sharply, “Can you conjure a corporeal Patronus?”

“Yeah,” Emma admitted. “I help Ruby and Gra—Professor Lucas sometimes with things in the Forbidden Forest. A couple of dementors live in the forest. After we ran into one one time, and, well, it did not go well for me, so I worked really hard last year to make sure I could do the spell myself.”

“I see,” Regina said stiffly. She paused, and Emma could hear it in her voice, that she was debating telling Emma something so she made sure to look as focused as possible on what she was doing. “I, I’ve run into one before, while flying. I nearly…I did not go well for me either.”

Emma hummed acknowledgment. Emma knew why she didn’t do well with dementors, why they had affected her far more than they had Ruby. Granny explained that they often brought out terrible memories—if you have more bad memories, they’re just going to have more to work with. Emma had plenty of bad memories from her childhood and more recently everything with the prophecy. She wondered what they brought up for Regina.

“I can, I don’t know, give you some tips, if you’d like,” Emma found herself offering.

“You?” Regina sounded particularly disbelieving.

Emma looked up, hoping the anger she felt covered up any genuine hurt that might show in her eyes. “Yes me. I just told you I got special help learning it and Defense is my best subject. Just because I suck at potions doesn’t mean I’m a complete moron.”

Regina looked rather taken aback and regretful. She bit her lip as if just realizing how what she said must have sounded to the other girl “I—my apologies,” her voice was stilted, but sincere when she looked at Emma. “I didn’t mean to imply—I just don’t know if it will help. I’m fairly certain I’m doing the spell right,” frustration was creeping back into her voice. “It just won’t work.”

“It can’t hurt though, right?” Emma said, feeling her defensiveness slip away. “We could just, go practice somewhere and I can take a look at what you’re doing. If I have any pointers, I can let you know and if not, well, it’ll only be for an afternoon—not like it made anything worse.”

Regina rolled her eyes, “My time is exceedingly valuable.” Emma would have taken offense if she hadn’t realized Regina was joking. “But I suppose it couldn’t hurt.”

“Great!” Emma smiled, it would be cool to teach Regina something instead of the other way around.

“And Emma,” Regina added with a mischievous smirk. “You cut up the tentacle again.”

“Dammit!”

-x-x-x-

They ended up picking an empty classroom to use instead of the potions room since it was too small and too full of valuable ingredients that could get damaged.

“How’s this?” Emma asked as they walked in. “We sometimes use it as a spare room for dueling practice.”

Regina nodded, there was a good amount of open space, “This looks good to me.” She set her bag down on the table and fussed with her stuff a bit as Emma went over to the free area.

“Ready to start?” Emma asked. Regina walked over and nodded, looking both nervous and angry to cover up for her nerves. “Do you want me to show you my Patronus?”

Regina was about to protest that she didn’t need a demonstration, before her curiosity made itself known. She actually did want to know what Emma’s Patronus looked like. “Yes.”

Emma drew her wand and got the most serious look Regina had ever seen on Emma’s face before. Regina was once again reminded for all of Emma’s silliness, she was a competent beater and a champion duelist. Not to mention whatever it was that had happened over the summer. The rumors were very inconsistent beyond that it had been important and dangerous.

“ _Expecto Patronum!_ ” Emma called out, louder than Regina had expected and brought her thoughts back to focus on what they were doing. A large silvery form burst from her wand and bounded forward.

Regina soon realized it was a large dog with thick fur. The Patronus was incredibly detailed and magnificent, Regina had to remember to breathe as she took it in. It ran around the perimeter of the room as if looking for something to chase off. When it could find none, it headed back towards Emma. Once it reached her, Emma made a gesture with her wand and the Patronus dissipated.

“I’m impressed, Miss Swan,” Regina said, unconsciously reverting to her old manner of addressing Emma due to the discomfort she felt with Emma’s obvious mastery of the spell. She felt a little more sure of herself when Emma actually blushed at the praise.

“Thanks, it took a lot of work,” Emma replied. “How about you give it a go then?”

Regina felt her small amount of good humor vanish and she nodded seriously. _Come on,_ she told herself, _you can’t fail now with Emma watching._ She raised her own wand, focusing on her memory of her and Papi relaxing one winter evening by the fire, talking about their horses. Then she made the correct circling gesture, “ _Expecto Patronum!_ ”

Nothing happened beyond a single puff of silvery smoke.

Regina gritted her teeth and decided to switch her memory to one of her and Daniel in the stables. She tried to sink into the memory as she repeated the appropriate wand movement, “ _Expecto Patronum!_ ”

Regina was concentrating very hard, Emma could see, but nothing more than a little bit of silvery vapor emerged from her wand. Regina’s scowl deepened and, in her frustration, she made a little flicking motion with her wand.

Unfortunately, with a difficult and precise spell such as this one, even a small motion like that was liable to have an effect. Immediately after the gesture a jet of purple light emitted from the end of her wand, hit one of the shields hanging from the wall with a clang and then into the wall hanging opposite Regina. It made a loud _whomp_ noise and burst into purple flames.

Regina’ eyes filled briefly with surprise and then disgust as she glared at the fire. Emma was mostly just glad she hadn’t been standing opposite of Regina when that spell misfire had happened.

Evidently, the noise had been loud enough that a Gryffindor prefect stuck his head in, looking around in confusion. When he spotted them and the burning wall hanging he frowned and began to walk towards them, “Are you two allowed to be in here?”

Regina turned her head very slowly to look back at him and he froze. The fire lit her eerily from behind as she growled, “Walk. Away.”

The prefect put his hands up and slowly backed out of the classroom. The fire finally went out when Regina turned back around and glared at it. Even fire respected Regina’s anger. Emma sympathized.

Regina marched over to the window and opened it, before beginning to try to fan the smoke out of it so the room didn’t smell too much. Emma decided to stay where she was and give the frustrated other girl some space.

Emma had thought she’d seen Regina mad before, but apparently during their first few lessons, she’d just been frustrated. Angry Regina’s eyes seemed to light up.

Emma wisely decided to keep this particular observation to herself. “Um, do you want to try again?”

Regina glared at her, “Yes.” Then she forced herself to take a deep breath, reminding herself she needed a happy memory. She refocused on her memory of Daniel and the horses, forcibly not thinking about what had just happened or what had happened to Daniel in the end. She took another deep breath, and cast the spell, “ _Expecto Patronum!_ ”

Emma watched her and noticed there really wasn’t much wrong with what Regina was doing. Her wandwork could be a little more fluid—her motions got jerkier the angrier she got—but her pronunciation was perfect. However, now no vapor was coming out at all. Emma knew Regina was a powerful witch, why _was_ she having so much trouble with this spell?

Finally after a few more minutes of nothing happening Regina straightened up and brought her wand down, making sure magic was released this time. “You see, it won’t work. Am I just missing something?” Regina asked, turning to Emma, looking a bit desperate in her frustration.

Emma came a little closer and shook her head slightly, “Unfortunately, no. You have all the technical aspects of the spell nailed down pretty well.” Regina deflated and she looked more tired than frustrated. Emma frowned a little, “Why do you think you’re having such trouble with the spell? If you had to give some reason, any reason.”

Regina opened her mouth to repeat that she didn’t know again, but then she closed it. She turned to look out the window, clearing her thoughts. If even Emma thought she did the spell right, then… She swallowed, she did actually have a theory, but she hadn’t wanted to admit it even to herself, could she trust Emma? “I don’t think I’m using a happy enough memory,” Regina admitted reluctantly.

Emma blinked, “Oh, well, why not pick another one?”

“Gee,” Regina said sarcastically as she crossed her arms, “Why hadn’t I thought of that?”

Emma could help but smile at the predictable response, “Okay, I guess I deserved that.” Emma took a step closer, “But seriously, why are you using a memory you know isn’t working?”

“Because that’s all I have,” Regina said quietly. Memories of Papi, of Daniel, of Potions making successes, of Quidditch, of Mal, of hanging out with her friends. “I’ve tried dozens different memories, the happiest I can think of. I don’t know what else to use.”

Emma blinked, could Regina really not have a happy enough memory? She was reminded of when she first tried learning, about using her memory of being sorted into Hufflepuff and the welcome feast and how Granny told her it probably wasn’t strong enough. Normal happy wasn’t enough, it had to be more than that.

When Emma didn’t say anything, Regina simultaneously felt relieved and like she had to explain. This idea had been forming in the back of her mind every time she tried the spell and it came spilling out. “I feel like all my happy memories are too linked to sad ones. I always remember how the happiness is fleeting and then my spell falls apart before it even gets started.”

That’s how it felt, like all her happy memories were tainted. Memories of Papi reminded her of how he didn’t stand up for her when her mother was punishing her. Memories of Daniel’s death. Memories of being kicked off the Quidditch team. The knowledge that she would never be allowed to pursue her love of potions. Feeling that her friends would leave her if they knew who she really was. All happy moments end.

Emma was studying Regina’s face, knowing the older girl was so lost in thought she didn’t notice. Emma could sense what Regina wasn’t saying, she could still feel the echo of feeling it herself. “Do you want me to tell you my secret?”

Regina blinked herself back to the current moment. “Sure.”

“You don’t actually have to use a memory.”

Regina’s brow furrowed as she stared at the Hufflepuff. “What are you talking about?”

“Here’s the thing,” Emma started. “I had a lot of trouble with finding a memory at first, but I figured out that I can use a…a dream? An imagination.” She’d done it first out of sheer frustration only to find that her wand had formed more silvery mist than it had any other time.

Regina still looked very confused. “I’m not following.”

“You can make up a happy memory,” Emma explained, hoping she wasn’t revealing too much as she explained. “You can imagine what would make you happy and use that thought to create your Patronus.”

Regina just looked at her before saying defensively, “I don’t need to fabricate happiness.”

Evidently Emma had been managing to keep the implications of her using this method too to herself. So, did she want to come right out and say she didn’t have a lot of happy memories too or did she want to drop it and not help Regina, who she realized she wanted to be her friend. Emma sighed and ran a hand through her hair before she looked Regina in the eye and willed the other girl to hear her out. “Look, I get it. I don’t know much about you exactly, but I know enough that you and I have some things in common. Remember how I said its my secret? That’s because a lot of times its easier for me to do it this way too.”

Regina’s eyes widened as she realized that of course that must be true and she felt rather embarrassed she hadn’t noticed. Emma kept talking though and Regina made sure to really listen to what Emma was and was not saying.

“A lot of the other students here, they don’t… They don’t know what its like, to feel misunderstood and rejected.” Emma remembered the look on Regina’s face when Emma tried to thank her those few times, how completely confused and bewildered she had seemed, like she’d never been told so before. Emma remembered the pain in Regina’s voice when she spoke of Quidditch and her mother. And Emma remembered the rumors she’d heard of Regina before she started tutoring her.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Emma held out her hands as if warding off a protest Regina hadn’t voiced. “We all have normal teenage stuff going on, but even my friends… they don’t get it.” MM didn’t know what it felt like to have every adult she knew talk over and ignore her. David didn’t understand what it was like to never get positive attention from parental figures. Ruby didn’t know what it was like to know that no cared what happened to you. But Regina... Emma thought that Regina just might “Not the way I do. Not the way I think you do. And I think, I think that makes us special or even unique, I don’t know. We’re survivors.” Emma was losing her train of thought and she tried to refocus, “And if it means we have do some things differently, who cares as long as it works.”

Regina was staring at Emma as if she’d never seen her before and it was because for the first time in her life, she felt like someone was really seeing _her_. Regina actively tried to keep things to herself and yet she knew she let things slip. No one had been able to put the pieces together so thoroughly as Emma had in only a few months. She should feel vulnerable, and she did, a little, but mostly she felt validated. Emma thought what they had been through made them special, not broken.

She suppressed a pleased little smile, “You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you Emma?”

Emma blinked in surprise, not sure what to make of that response, but before she could answer Regina nodded, “Make up a happiest memory, huh? I’ll give it a try.”

“Okay, yeah,” Emma nodded. “Great.”

Regina gave her a fond, exasperated look and then shooed her away so she had enough space to do the spell.

Regina ran through it in her mind, _what should I think of?_

After a few moments though, Regina fixed on the idea of herself, in her own home, with Papi and with her mother very far away. She was safe and she was free. She built the place in her mind, piece by piece.

“ _Expecto patronum_!”

At first, mist gathered at the end of her wand, but it was more opaque than it had ever been and she focus harder on her dream. It was a flat above a potion shop, her own potions shop, and she focused harder on the feeling of freedom that idea gave her. She thought of flying high and going wherever she pleased, with her home to come back to. A real home where no one could control her or hurt her.

The mist grew and grew until a large dazzling animal burst from her wand. It was a shining mare, sleek and strong. The horse cantered around the classroom. Her mane blew in a nonexistent breeze and she lifting her head in neigh neither girl could hear before slowly fading.

“You did it,” Emma said, grinning broadly. She wanted to hug the other girl, an impulse she’d never had before. It was surprisingly hard to resist.

“I did.” Regina looked completely shocked, but a smile spread across her face. She looked down at her wand like this was the first time she’d ever really performed magic. Then she turned and faced Emma. Her eyes were warm and filled with gratitude and her smile was softer than Emma had ever seen it. “Thank you, Emma.”

Emma’s grinned lessened as her mouth smoothed into a more normal smile. “You’re welcome, Regina.

 

 

 


	19. Father-Daughter Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Emma - Summer before Year 5  
> Regina - Summer before Year 6

Breakfast was always a tense affair because Cora always insisted they all eat together, even though she mostly read the paper and would only speak to make cutting remarks about what she read. Regina and her father were primarily there to murmur agreement with whatever opinions she shared as they slowly ate their breakfast. Regina had long given up trying to excuse herself early.

This morning though, Cora ate quickly explaining she had an appointment with the head of the Invisibility Task Force.

When she left, there was an almost visible change in the atmosphere as father and daughter felt her presence leave and smiled at each other. Henry quickly got up from his place at the foot of the table to the chair opposite Regina’s place at the middle.

“Good morning, Papi,” Regina said.

“Good morning, Regina,” he replied. “I was thinking perhaps we could have pancakes instead of oatmeal today, what do you say?”

Regina nodded eagerly and he called their house elf, Cerdita, to explain the change in breakfast plans. Once that was sorted her turned back to his daughter, “Mija, you are always shut away in your room, so busy even in the summer. I feel as though you are still at school.”

“I’m sorry, Papi,” Regina replied, feeling guilty her hiding from her mother also meant she hadn’t seen her father.

“Why don’t we go to a race this month?” he offered.

“A winged horse race?” Regina asked, guilt vanishing. “Really?” Regina had only been to a few winged horse races in her life, all with Papi. They’d gone to one two summers ago, but hadn’t been back since.

“Yes, just the two of us, how does that sound?” he smiled gently at her and she grinned back.

“Perfect.” Then, without her consent her eyes dimmed a little and she looked out the window.

“It would be wonderful to race…” Regina said wistfully.

Papi got up and gave her a one-armed hug around the shoulders. “You should pursue your dreams, Regina,” Papi said gently and sincerely.

Regina met his gaze and could see they were slightly wet, like it was hurting him to say, not because he didn’t believe what he was saying or because he thought she didn’t want to, but because he knew the same thing she did. And normally, Regina simply agree when he said things like this to allow them both the illusion those words provided, but this time, she couldn’t keep it to herself. “How?”

Papi kept his arm around her and didn’t answer.


	20. The Bug

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Regina - Summer before Year 6  
> Emma - Summer before Year 5

The Bug was a place that couldn’t seem to decide if it was a pub or a café and was stuck somewhere in the middle. It also couldn’t decide if it was muggle or a wizarding establishment.

Emma liked it quite a lot.

An older Slytherin student had recommended it to her as nice place to go to in London that muggleborns and half-bloods tended to frequent. It catered primarily to witches and wizards, but it was muggle passing and normal enough that frequently people with muggle relatives and friends in the know were able to bring them along without freaking them out or having them stick out like sore thumbs.

Emma found she loved the casual blending of both cultures. Most people were dressed in what she still considered normal, muggle, clothes, but with odd twists, such as particularly pointy hats or capes tacked on. The customers ranged over the ages, but were primarily a younger crowd during the day.

None of her close friends were in London, so she never saw them there, but every once in while she recognized students from school—after they both did a double-take and squint as each tried to place the other in muggle clothes instead of school robes.

The food and drink was also reasonably priced and they didn’t mind if you stuck around all day as long you bought something. Emma had a little more spending money each year due to already having a number of the basic school supplies and choosing to get second hand items instead of splurging on new ones just because she could.

Emma didn’t go every day, she didn’t have that many galleons to spare, but she did go at least once a week. The bell chimed as she pushed open the door and headed for the counter, appreciating that there was only one person in line.

“Hi, can I get a hot coco with cinnamon please?” Emma asked, smiling at the cashier, a boy a couple of years older than her that she recognized from previous times she’d been here.

He smiled in response, “Sure.”

Emma handed over her money—galleons, although the store accepted muggle money too.

“Thanks. Emma, right?”

Emma nodded, pleased he’d remembered her. “Yup. Thanks,” she squinted at his badge. “Neal.”

After settling down at a table and another restaurant worker bringing her the drink she’d ordered, Emma set about looking at some of her summer work and trying to figure out what to do first—at least she could take her time with all of this. She had the book she needed for History of Magic since she’d been by the library yesterday. Professor Sinestra gave special passes to the Royal Observatory to students who lived in the city and couldn’t observe the skies at night due to the light pollution. However, she’d need to pay for the train ticket out there and she hadn’t been to Gringotts in a bit. Maybe next week.

Emma lost herself in her plans until she was pulled out of her focus by the sound of arguing. A couple of guys had gotten into a row at the next table over about their Quidditch teams. She tried to lean away from them, but then one guy shoved the other. The second pushed back so that the first guy ended up falling into the small display rack of Pub trinkets next to Emma. She turned in her seat to get away and pulled out her wand out, “Hey, watch it!”

That was enough commotion that two of the Bug’s workers came over and break up the argument and Emma tried to go back to her book. A few minutes later though, Neal came by.

At first, she ignored him, until he walked directly up to her said, “Excuse me, can I check your bag?”

Emma looked up, taken aback. “What? Why?”

“Can I?” he held out his hand.

Emma scowled and reluctantly handed it over. It reminded her of all the times she’d gone into stores and been followed because she looked like trouble, people pre-judging her clothes and the other signs she was a foster child and therefore up to no good.

Neal barely opened the bag before he reached in and pulled out a spoon. Emma frowned in confusion before her eyes went wide—it was one of the self-stirring spoons the Bug sold, it had their emblem on it and everything. Emma went white, “I am so sorry, I don’t—that must have been knocked in there during the fight earlier.”

“It’s alright,” Neal made a placating gesture with his hands. “I believe you. I just thought something might have fallen in by accident.”

“Oh,” Emma said, embarrassed. “Sorry, I just didn’t want you to think I was a thief.”

Neal laughed, “Not at all, besides—I’d hope if you were actually going to steal something, you’d aim a little higher than a single spoon.”

Emma laughed. “You’re right, I’d have at least gone for a mug.”

Neal grinned, “I thought so, you would never stoop to such a low level as this.”

“Exactly,” Emma grinned.

Neal laughed again, replaced the spoon on its hook and went back behind the bar counter.

When Emma left, she managed to catch his eye and offer a wave, which he returned with a smile and a wink.

-x-x-x-

A few days later, she decided to sit at the counter and see if maybe she could actually talk to Neal. He seemed nice and she still didn’t have any magical friends in London.

Sure enough, a couple minutes later he stopped by to give her the drink she ordered. Things seemed rather slow so she wasn’t surprised when he decided to talk to her for a bit.

“Do you go to Hogwarts?” he asked, curious.

“Yup,” Emma said with a smile, she hadn’t actually wanted to start her history book.

Neal’s eyes lit up with an idea, “Let’s see if I can guess what house you’re in.”

Emma waved him forward, “Alright, go ahead.”

“Hm,” he gave her a very serious and considering look, pretending to look at her from various angles, “I’m torn between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff.”

 “No hints allowed,” Emma teased.

“Alright,” Neal replied with a pout. He narrowed his eyes before guessing, “Gryffindor?”

Emma shook her head, “Nope, proud badger here.”

“Aw, I was so close.”

Emma laughed, “What about you, what house were you in?” She didn’t recognize him but she didn’t know many of the students that just graduated. However, given how he was talking, she assumed he’d been part of that class.

“None,” Neal replied, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. “I go to Durmstrang.”

Emma’s eyes widened, “Oh cool, I’ve heard of that school.” That school had a complicated reputation, but Emma would be the first to say that rumors were often wrong. “How’d you like it?”

“I enjoy it,” Neal said, “Next year is my last year. Students who will be seventeen by the summer can apply to the summer abroad program. There are opportunities to travel all over the globe, but I’ve never been many places so I chose the UK.”

Emma nodded, “How long have you been in London?”

“Only a month or so,” he replied with a shrug. “Do you know any places I should visit?”

Emma studied him, “Muggle or Wizarding?”

His eyes twinkled at that, “Both.”

After she told him a number of the places she knew of, they got on to other topics and ended up talking about different wizarding games they knew of.

“Do you know how to play Bavarian Exploding Snap?” Neal asked.

Emma shook her head, “I only know how to play really basic Exploding Snap and I haven’t played a lot—I’m not very good. I’ve never even heard of the Bavarian version.”

“Do you want me to show you?” Neal asked, clearly excited as his eyes lit up.

“Shouldn’t you be, you know, working?” Emma asked, mostly teasing.

Neal shrugged and his green eyes twinkled a bit, “We’re slow right now and what the boss doesn’t know, won’t hurt him.”

Emma shook her head, but smiled, “If you say so, it’s your job on the line.”

“Now,” Neal pulled out a deck of yellow cards. “In traditional Exploding Snap, the cards are in a single stack and they self-shuffle to turn over cards—when two of the same come up in a row, you have to tap them with your wand.” He quickly demonstrated by setting the cards down and tapping twice for it to start flipping, tapping the first pair that came up. “. You take the pairs you tap and you want to get all the pairs if possible, with there being less pairs as the game goes on but also less time to tap pairs when you do see them. If you miss a pair, they explode and aren’t in play anymore.” He demonstrated that as well, not tapping a pair which caused those two to emit sparks and make the exploding noise. Luckily it was a very distinctive sound and no one else in the Bug even looked over at them.

“Right,” Emma nodded along. “And normally you need to get a certain number of pairs, either more than the person you’re playing against or just a certain number.” There were lots of ways to play. Sometimes you each had a deck and played a deck each simultaneously, you could use the same deck and compete for pairs, or you could play against just by yourself with a goal number of pairs.”

“Correct. Now, in Bavarian Snap,” Neal explained, “You need a bit more space to lay out the cards.” He pushed aside some of the items on the counter and she put away the book she’d brought out. “You lay them down in a circle, like so—face up. Make sure that you don’t put down any complete pairs.” He put down six different cards in a circle, it seemed his deck were different varieties of dragons. “This is just a small circle to show you how it works. You can vary how many you put down. Now, the rest of the deck goes in the middle. Whenever a card flips over that’s down in the circle, you need to tap both cards to count the pair.”

Emma nodded, “Alright, okay. I think I get it.” She’d followed along pretty well, even if now she was rather distracted by the moving pictures of dragons on his cards, some of which were breathing fire.

“Great, so, do you think you’re ready to play?” Neal challenged, raising an eyebrow.

Emma grinned, “Sure, but I warn you—this is not going to go well.”

About a half an hour later Neal was resetting the cards for what felt like the hundredth time. “Wow, you are not good at this game,” Neal said, sounding surprised at truly awful she was.

Emma blushed, “I told you I sucked. I’m terrible at any wizarding game except Quidditch.”

“You play Quidditch?” he asked, sounding interested even as he shuffled the cards.

“Yup,” Emma replied, not hiding her pride. “I’ve been on the house team since I was a third year.”

“What position do you play?” Neal asked as he finally put the cards away.

Emma smiled at him, glad even he had given up teaching her for now. She wasn’t sure how singed her hair could be when she got home without even this foster home noticing. “Guess.”

“Everything’s a mystery with you, isn’t it?” Neal rolled his eyes, but seemed up for another guessing game. “Let’s see…. beater?”

“Now I am impressed,” Emma admitted. “Got it in one.”

“Brilliant,” Neal said. “I like to fly and I like to watch Quidditch well enough, but not enough to play on a team.”

“It’s a lot of fun,” Emma said, eager to talk about one of her favorite subjects. “I was so excited when I made the team.”

“Well,” he pulled out his cards again and she groaned. “Now that I know that, let’s see if we can translate any of those skills over to Exploding Snap, speaking of, shouldn’t you have faster reflexes?”

Emma narrowed her eyes in mock offense, “Give me a bat and I’ll show you how fast my reflexes are.”

Neal held up his hands in mock surrender, “Understood. Please accept my humble apologies.”

Emma rolled her eyes, “Just deal, Cassidy.”

-x-x-x-

Emma began to look forward to talking to Neal at The Bug. He wasn’t always working or when he was, he actually had to work, but often enough he managed to find free time to chat with her and practice Bavarian Exploding Snap with her. She was improving, just very, very slowly.

Today they were discussing classes at their respective schools.

“Defense Against the Dark Arts is my favorite subject,” Emma explained. “Charms is my second favorite.”

“I like Transfiguration the most, but Charms would be my second choice too,” Neal replied. “How about we try a larger circle of cards this time. Do you think you’re ready?”

Bavarian Exploding snap involved two sets of cards, some in a circle laid out and others which were in a stack in the center. After their first lesson when Neal got a handle on just how bad she was, they’d started with the very smallest circle with the least number of cards. She was pretty sure she had only just worked her way past eight-year-old level. Emma grinned, “Nope, deal them anyways.

Neal grinned back at her and began laying out the cards. “Okay, now—least favorite class?”

“I am not good at potions. I can manage a passing grade this year without tutoring—I think—but only because of the help Regina has given me,” Emma said, eyes focused on the cards being dealt, which started off turning over slowly and got faster after each shuffle. “The professor isn’t at all helpful if you’re not already good at potions—no matter what Regina says.”

“Regina?” Neal asked and Emma realized she must not have mentioned the older girl yet—probably since they were different years so she didn’t come up when Emma was talking about her classes

“My friend,” Emma elaborated. “We met ‘cause she was assigned as my tutor for potions this past year. She’s like, crazy good at potions. She’s actually a good teacher too, which is the relevant part. She helped me to figure out where I was messing up and new study strategies—stuff like that.”

Neal frowned even has he admired the look of concentration on her face as the speed began to pcik up. Emma always did fine in the beginning, especially since was used to his cards now, but pretty quickly the cards got too fast. “Isn’t that your professor’s job?”

“No,” Emma shook her head, scowling both in reference to the card game and due to thinking about Gold, who normally annoyed her. “He’s not good at that sort of thing. I get that Gold is some sort of mystical potions master, but would it kill him to provide some more guidance than the bare minimum the textbook gives? Why does everything he does have to be so mysterious?” She imitated his slight accent, “‘How much do you feel like a splash is, Miss Swan?’ Like, give me a break.”

Emma missed the way Neal’s face had frozen oddly when Emma had spoken. She was also too distracted to notice his voice was a bit strangled when he said, “Gold?”

Emma was too focused on the game and moving her wand to the matching card fast enough. “Professor Gold, he teaches potions at Hogwarts,” she said distractedly. Then she tapped the wrong card, “Shit!” She leaned back from the counter as the cards exploded. At least she was getting better at evading the explosion.

She looked up at Neal to see he was staring at her and that his eye brows were a little singed. “Geez, I didn’t do that much worse than normal, why are you giving me that look? Looks like you need to work on your own reaction time.

Neal blinked himself back into the moment and felt his eyebrows. He gave a shaky laugh before he cast a quick hair-thickening charm to regrow them. She normally would have laughed at the sight, but she could tell something else was going on. “Uh, Neal? Something wrong?”

Neal re-focused on her and he leaned forward, his face more intent than she’d ever seen it. “Do you know his first name?”

“Who’s?” Emma blinked at the strange question, her mind skipped back to their conversation. “Gold’s? Um, not really, I can check my schedule.” She tended not to know professor’s first names—made them seem to much like real people and harder to hate during exams. She’d gotten her schedule the other day, which is why they were talking about classes in the first place.

When Neal just nodded, she shrugged and pulled it out of her bag, “Here it is, Professor Rupert Gold.”

Neal froze at the name and Emma can’t keep her questions to herself any longer, “Do you know him? Did he used to teach at Durmstrang? I think he said that was where he went to school.” Neal didn’t seem to even hear her and she reached out to place her hand on his arm, “Are you okay, Neal?”

“Yeah, yeah,” he shook his head and smiled, “I’m fine.”

Emma eyed his a little suspiciously, but couldn’t figure out why Professor Gold’s first name could have upset him so she just let it go. However, only five minutes later he made an awkward excuse to leave, saying he needed to get back to work. She wasn’t even able to find him when she went to leave.

Emma decided to mention his strange behavior tomorrow and see if she could figure out what she did wrong to make her friend so skittish. Unfortunately, the next fifth days in a row Emma came in and Neal was nowhere in sight. Finally, on the sixth day, she plucked up her courage to ask one of the other workers. “Hi, um, I was wondering—where’s Neal Cassidy? Is he working today?”

The man in his mid-thirties gave Emma a cold and belligerent look, “Who wants to know?”

Emma actually leaned back and turned a bit red, “Uh, never mind then. Geez.” She slumped off to her usual table in the back. What was going on?

Luckily, only a few minutes later a voice asked, “Sorry, but are you Emma?”

Emma looked up and saw a woman in the Bug’s apron’s. She frowned, although at least this worker doesn’t seem pissed at her just for existing. “Yeah, why?”

“Hi,” she said. Then she gestured at the other worker who was currently in the back of the kitchen, “Sorry about him—he’s just upset because Neal’s gone.”

Emma felt herself freeze, disbelievingly she asked, “Gone?”

“Yeah,” she nodded. “He left last week—like went back home. I only know because I’m part of the same summer abroad program. He didn’t leave anyone he met here any forwarding information.”

Emma couldn’t believe what she hearing. “What? Why?”

“I guess Neal had been avoiding his dad pretty seriously,” Emma’s eyes widened at that, but the girl didn’t seem to notice. “he never told me specifically, but, you know,” she shrugged, “Same school—you hear things.”

“While he was in school,” she continued. “He was fine because his dad was banned from the property. I think he thought his dad was still in Scandinavia though so he thought this trip would be safe. Over the past few years, Neal’d refused to read any letters his dad sent him and so he had no idea where he was.”

“Oh god,” Emma was horrified. She supposed he’d never mentioned parents, but she was trying to avoid the topic too since she didn’t want him finding out about her own lack of them. “And his dad found him?”

“I think _he_ found his dad,” the woman corrected. “He’d changed his name when he started going to school, it used to be Baelfire Gold.”

It only took a second for Emma to make the connection. “His dad is Professor Gold?!”

“Apparently. He asked me what I knew about Hogwarts right before he left and told me some of this. He said to give you this,” she handed Emma a plastic bag. “And that’s all I know.”

Emma accepted the bag even as the other girl headed back to the kitchen. She returned to her seat in shock and packed up all of her things on autopilot, without having consciously made the decision to leave. She couldn’t stay here though.

Once she was back at her foster parent’s house, she locked herself in the bathroom—the only room besides the master bedroom with a lock. Settling down on the floor against the tub, she pulled out the bag the waitress had given her.

On top was a short piece of paper that looked like it was from a pad used to write down orders. All it said was: “I hope you weren’t sent by my father to help him track me down, but I can’t trust that you aren’t. If you weren’t, sorry for leaving. Bye, Neal.”

She reached into the bag and pulled out the card deck they’d played with so many times. She stared at that deck of cards and Neal’s hastily scrawled words for a while after that, trying to make sense of it all.

Neal had really left, just because she’d told him his dad was her teacher? Just like that? He didn’t even try to confront her about it. And what had Gold done to make his son so go to such lengths to avoid him.

She stared down at the cards in her hands, feeling like there was still so much left unfinished. How could he think it was all a trick? How dare he leave without even trying to talk to her about it? So much for a fun summer—her only friend had abandoned her.

Emma threw the cards on the floor in frustration.


	21. The Final Nail

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Regina - Year 6  
> Emma - Year 5

Regina was in transfiguration class, trying to copy one of the diagrams on the board as well as write down what McGonagall was saying when a knock on the door interrupted her focus. Frowning she, along with the rest of the class including McGonagall, turned to see Professor Gold push open the door and step inside.

“Professor Gold?” McGonagall asked, mild surprise in her voice. “What can I do for you?”

“Pardon me, Professor McGonagall. I require Miss Navar to come with me.” Regina’s eyes widened in confusion. She tried to get a read on the expression on his face without success. Had something gone wrong with a potion she had on in her study room? That surely wouldn’t warrant an in person interruption into another class. However, Gold’s faced remained as inscrutable as always, with perhaps more of a frown than usual.

“Very well,” McGonagall allowed with a nod and Regina automatically began packing up her things. “Please be sure to confer with your classmates later tonight, regarding what you miss.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Luckily, all Regina kept her desk orderly and was able to pull everything together quickly.

Under the gaze of her curious classmates, she got up and followed Gold into the hallway. Despite being full of questions, she managed to limit herself to just one after the door shut, “What’s going on?”

“I’m afraid I’m not sure, Miss Navar,” Gold replied, his lips pressed together. “I was meeting with Professor Flitwick when Dumbledore requested he come to his office and fetch you. I offered to do that latter.”

Regina was taken aback, this had nothing to do with her potions then, but evidently was important enough to require her head of house. Had they discovered her potion side-business? Had they found out she knew about Ruby? Had---

“I believe your mother is here.”

Regina nearly stepped through the illusionary step on the staircase. “Mother? Here?” Regina’s spine went completely rigid and she could feel her magic flare up. Mother couldn’t be here, she wasn’t supposed to be here, not at Hogwarts. Instantly, an intense protective flare came over her. Mother shouldn’t be here, in Regina’s sanctuary.

Then Regina’s brow furrowed, but why would she want to be here? Why would she come here at all? She made no bones about how she viewed the school—necessary and a stepping stone to greater things—but nothing more. Regina could see the distaste she felt for it and she never, not once, said anything about her own time here, beyond her pride in her house.

“Why would she have come?” Regina couldn’t keep the question in for all she did not expect an answer.

“I don’t know,” Gold said, mildly, but when Regina turned to him she could see her was frowning more obviously than before, “But I fear it may be serious.”

Regina nodded, “Yes, it must.” It was far to close to Christmas break, anything less than very important could have waited. Especially anything she wished to share with Regina. To come here instead of waiting out the week was very strange.

Her sense of foreboding roared in her ears and she barely heard Gold as he said “Sherbet Fountain”. It was enough though to bring her out of her daze and she hurriedly tried to pull on her mental armor. She hated having to meet Mother so unexpectedly, it gave her no time to prepare, no time to seal herself away.

By the time the doors opened, Regina knew she’d managed to put on her usual mask, but also was aware it was much flimsier than usual.

She felt Gold’s sharp eyes on her and turned her head to meet them. His gaze was more careful than she had ever seen it, which unsettled her more than she would have liked. She did want to feel as unbalanced as she currently felt if she was going to be dealing with Mother. Still, there was no help for it as he gestured her to the doors, so she grasped one of the handles and pushed into the room.

Sure enough, her mother was standing by Dumbledore’s desk, her back to them. Flitwick too was standing by the desk, up several steps so that he was of a similar height to the others. Both his and the Headmaster’s faces she could see and she felt her stomach clench. They looked very grave indeed and Flitwick’s expression in particular when his eyes met hers were filled with such sympathy she felt her spine stiffen even further. Dread seemed to seep into her as Gold closed the door behind them.

Mother turned and Regina saw she had on a mask of grief. Regina’s mind refused to consider why her mother might look that way. She clenched her fingers around the single Transfiguration textbook she held in her hand and resisted the urge to run.

“Regina, dear,” her mother said, caring in her voice but as always lacking in her eyes. “I’m afraid something terrible has happened.”

“Perhaps, she should sit down first,” Flitwick suggested.

“Of course,” Cora said, voice practically dripping with false sincerity. “Rupert, if you would?”

Regina barely noticed as Gold guided her to a chair, her mind finally reaching the conclusion she had been avoiding. She clutched her book to her herself, knuckles white with the force she exuding on it, “What’s happened to Papi?”

Cora sat down as well and placed a hand over Regina’s, which did nothing to ease her daughter’s tension. “Unfortunately, something has happened to him. He hasn’t been feeling well lately, but he had been insisting on continuing to care for the horses. There was an accident.”

Regina looked at her blankly and felt tears begin to gather in her eyes. She knew there was only one thing her mother could say next.

“We couldn’t heal him, Regina. Your father is dead.”

-x-x-x-

Cora ended up asking Regina to stay at school for the rest of the week while she sorted out various funeral arrangements. Flitwick was the most shocked by this and privately asked Regina if she wouldn’t rather go home, he would help her press for that. Ultimately though, both with her own shock and with the fact that she always wanted to see her mother as little as possible, she thanked him while turning down the offer.

Still it did mean she had to deal with going back to the rest of the school and dealing with questions. She managed to head straight to her room and shut the door where she then hid all night long and refused to see anyone. She slept fitfully and woke up feeling worse than she had if she hadn’t slept. But by breakfast the next morning, her hunger pangs managed to cut through her grief enough to force her down to the great hall for breakfast.

She knew she should have thought more about what to tell her friends, but she honestly hadn’t been able to do more than get lost in memories of papi and circles of denial. She knew it wouldn’t seem real until she saw him and even then. It didn’t seem possible he was gone, not when everything else was the same. Surely, she should be able to feel that he was missing from the world, right?

Mechanically, she sat down in her usual seat and filled her plate with whatever was directly in front of her. Kathryn was already there and watched, clearly torn between wanting to ask her what was wrong and being afraid of the answer.

It ended up being Killian Jones of all people, who was over at the Ravenclaw table trying to chat up a fifth year girl who glanced at her and did a double take. “Geez, Navar. Who died?”

Regina didn’t know what her face did, but he actually jumped up off the bench he’d been straddling and the flower arrangement to her right burst into flames at the same time the large pitcher of juice to her left froze solid. “My father,” Regina replied in an extremely dangerous tone.

“Oh, god, Regina,” Kathryn said, looking pale. “Is that what…”

Regina nodded stiffly, her eyes not leaving the boy’s, who did in fact look stricken.

“I am so sorry,” he said for once sounding like he meant it. “I never thought...”

“Of course, you didn’t,” Regina’s voice lost a great deal of its edge. She reached forward and grabbed blindly at a fruit before she got up and strode away, shaking.

Kathryn caught up with her just outside the great hall, “Regina, why are you even still here?” Kathryn stood next to her friend and reached out a hand as if to touch her before pulling it back, unsure.

“Mother needed to make arrangements,” Regina said flatly as she stared at the suit of armor opposite her and tried not to remain calm. “And I don’t particularly want to see her. I’ll be going home at the end of the week as planned.”

Kathryn must have been able to sense something of her emotional turmoil anyway—or maybe she just knew that of course Regina was experiencing it given the circumstances. She lightly grabbed Regina’s arm and tugged her into the nearest bathroom. “What happened?” she asked gently once they were alone and she’d locked the door.

“Mother said there was an accident. With one of the horses,” Regina said shortly, trying to calm the rising tide of emotion at finally having to tell someone herself.

“Oh Regina, can I..?” Kathryn gestured toward her, but when Regina only looked at her, Kathryn threw caution into the wind and embraced her friend. Regina jolted a bit and Kathryn started to pull back, thinking she’d misread the situation, only for Regina to return the hug full force. Tears falling down both of their faces, they stood there for a long time.

Throughout the week she received more condolences from her friends and some of her regular customers. Most of the students left her alone even as they watched her more than ever, their eyes tracking her as they whispered. She represented a lot of their worst fears—nothing drives home anyone can die than your classmate’s own father passing away.

By the end of the week she was avoiding even her friends except Emma. Emma was the only one without any real context for what Regina was feeling, but she knew it. So she didn’t try to say any worthless platitudes or imaginings about her grief. Emma let her just be as they quietly studied, occasionally asking her a potions question. It was calm and quiet and if Regina sat next to Emma instead of across from her, Emma didn’t mention it.

Regina was allowed to floo home instead of taking the train, something she both appreciated and resented. It was good not to have to endure the compartment ride home with her friends, which would have felt oppressive and stilted. At the same time, it meant she was home, to her mother, and to the reality of what had happened, that much sooner.

The funeral was the next day. Regina didn’t do much besides follow her mother’s ordered as she allowed Perdita to dress her and do her make up. The elf was very somber and they didn’t need to say anything to each other to communicate the hole they felt. At home it was so much more obvious Papi was missing. The entire mansion felt larger and hollower, sounds seemed to echo when they never had before.

ELM Undertakers brought Papi in the morning and the wake was set up in the garden. Regina quietly made her way there as soon as everyone was busy setting up inside so that she could have a private moment with him.

She approached cautiously but too soon she was next to the open coffin. Accordingly to her mother he had been kicked in his chest, but ELM was very good at their job. He looked unharmed and whole, dressed in elegant dress robes—not his favorites, her mother’s preferred for him whenever there was a fancy enough occasion to warrant them. Still, even if he didn’t prefer them, they normally did look good on him. They didn’t right now, because he didn’t look like himself. He looked like a faded mannequin—very realistic, but ultimately fake. That couldn’t be her Papi. Her Papi wasn’t just a bit washed, he wasn’t this old, he wasn’t still like this, even in his sleep. Her Papi breathed.

She automatically reached a hand out to gripe his arm but faltered at the last minute. Regina took a deep breath and laid her hand on his arm. It didn’t feel like a person’s arm, it was too cool to the touch, even accounting for the clothe. It was too still, too unreacting. She retracted her hand just as quickly.

Regina’s eyes kept moving to his face, she knew it was her father and yet at the same time she couldn’t recognize the body laying before her. It was more unsettling than anything else, more than sad or frightening. She wanted to look away at the figure before her. All that was left of her Papi.

Regina wasn’t sure how long she stared unbelieving before her mother found her and dragged her away to start getting ready to greet the guests that were coming. She felt as though she had merely blinked before their garden was filled with people.

The Midas’ came and Regina manage to pull herself together enough to act a bit more normal around them, accepting the parent’s formal condolences and the twins’ heartfelt ones.

At some point they all sat down in the chairs that had been arranged before the coffin, and Regina found herself up front, watching her mother give a speech she didn’t hear one word of. She only let a few tears fall then, thinking how sad it was that this woman who did not love her father was the one saying these words she couldn’t hear about him. Not that she would have been able to find any words herself.

She was reminded of Emma then, from last week, watched her, eyes filled with sympathy and yet with a distinct lack of understanding of how she must be feeling, yet a yearning for it. A desire in Emma’s eyes to have been close enough with one of her parents to understand. In a strange way, it made Regina feel a little better, at least she knew and loved her Papi enough to feel this for him, to have loved him.

She was reminded that there were others who also loved him. His sister and her family, the only one of his family who he still exchanged regular letters with was there. Her hug was the only one that caused her to cry, even though she didn’t know her nearly as well as she wished she did because Regina could see the love for her brother in Gabriela’s eyes.

One of his brothers came as well, without his family. He didn’t try to give Regina a hug, she’d never met him, but he was somber and respectful. No one else from his family came, too long had they been estranged. Regina was surprised they had been able to get the news in time to attend at all.

Some of the breeders Papi worked with came, some with stories and some with just a handshake. At least Regina knew they had come for him, not her mother, not out of obligation.

The event passed by in a blur. Soon enough it was time to set his coffin on fire. As they lit the fire and people said a few final words, everyone watched as the flames rose higher and higher. Regina found herself frozen in front of the display and she stayed, unmoving in front of it until the very last guest was gone.

She didn’t remember Perdita’s small hands guiding her to her room and tucking her in as she hadn’t since Regina was a little girl. All she remembered was the house elf’s quiet, high voice saying, “Buenas noches, que sueñes con los angelitos.”

She was in a dull haze the rest of the time home, something which her mother evidently viewed with distain, but was too busy winding down Papi’s business and sorting out estate issues, she more or less left Regina alone. Regina didn’t try to argue with her over the way she was selling off the majority of the houses, only said quiet goodbyes to them.

She spent as much time out of the house as possible wandering their property, except when she knew her mother was gone. Only then would she go into her father’s rooms and se if there were any sentimental items of his her mother wouldn’t notice were missing. Anything she rescued—his writing pen and ink well, his favorite book, the family horse breeding books, a small painting—she hid either in her trunk or she snuck off to Diagon Alley and placed them in her vault.

So soon it was time to go back to school, to Hogwarts—away from the place her father was supposed to be but wasn’t. Regina didn’t know if she was happy or angry or sad that she might be able to breath a few moments where the new reality of his death wasn’t the background noise to her every though.

-x-x-x-

Throughout the second week back at Hogwarts, Regina found herself unable to sleep and unwilling to take a dreamless sleep potion. On such nights she would go up to the top of Ravenclaw tower and look up at the stars. Remembering the stories her father had told her about the constellations, she would feel very small and alone, but still closer to him than she did during the normal day of classes, where it was almost easy to forget he was gone.

One night, while she was staring up at the stars, the outline of a shape flew between her and their light.

Regina ignored it initially, assuming it was an owl for one of the professors. Then it passed across her field of vision and Regina suddenly became aware it was circling towards her. She straightened up, squinting to try and recognize the bird. It couldn’t be a business letter, those wouldn’t come at night. Was it an owl of one of her friends?

With a rush of feathers, it landed on one of the parapets and dropped something at its feet. Regina rose slowly with a whispered, “ _Lumos_.” She only lit her wand faintly so as not to hurt her eyes or the bird’s.

As she moved closer she saw it was the single largest owl she’d ever scene, black with small white patches—it was a wonder she’d managed to pick it out against the night sky at all.

“Hello,” she said calmly, taking another step closer. “Are you looking for me?”

Its orange eyes looked at her before it turned away with a soft hoot. Cautiously, Regina came close enough to crouch down and take the package the eagle-owl had dropped, as she now recognized the species. As she rose, she looked over the large brown envelope she’d picked up from the stone floor.

Regina felt around in her pockets for her money pouch only to realize that it was, of course, back in her dorm. There was no reason to expect she might need it. Luckily the owl didn’t seem to be looking for a payment, although it hadn’t left yet. Perhaps it was waiting for her to open the letter?

She turned the envelope over in her hands before sitting back down on the stone floor next to the owl. She gently set her wand to hovering and used both hands to examine the package. When she turned it over and right side up, she saw writing which said “State you name and press your fingerprint into the wax to open”.

Frowning, Regina wondered what this could be and if it was safe. With a tired shrug, she decided the only thing to do would be to follow the instructions. “Regina Navar,” she said and pressed her thumb to the gray, unmarked circle of wax.

The wax heated up under her finger and glowed briefly before going dark. The sound of talons on stone caused her to look up, startled, only to see the owl flying off into the night. When Regina looked back down at the envelope, she saw that that a flap had opened up ever so slightly. The owl must have been waiting for her to unlock the envelope.

More awake than she’d felt in a week, she carefully opened it up and tipped out the sheaf of parchment that was inside. The first sheet was a sort of form letter.

Dear Miss Regina Navar.

            This package has been delivered to you courtesy of Beyond the Veil, a service which allows you to send out personal mail in the untimely event of your death.

            Henry Navar entrusted this missive to us on October thirtieth. He requested this be sent to you in the event of his passing. As this event has most unfortunately occurred, we hereby relinquish this package to you.

Our condolences,

          BTV

Regina stared at the words in complete shock. Papi had written her a private letter in case something happened. Why would he have done that? Was this some kinda of trick? She flipped to the next page and caught her breath: her father’s handwriting was obvious even in the faint light.

 

Dearest Regina,

        I greatly regret that you are reading this letter. I am writing this in October due to my personal fears, I felt it a necessary precaution to arrange for this letter to be sent you. Obviously, this was a precaution that was warranted if you are in fact reading it. I hope that you have reached the age of majority, before I died, but I fear I might not even last four more months. I plan to write a new letter after your birthday, so if you have this one, then I must have had less time than I think I do.

        I’m writing in circles instead of telling you straight out, a vice I fear has already harmed you. Your mother has been acting more mercurial than ever and I worry that she is finally tiring of my presence. She seems to have sped up her plans for gaining greater control over the Ministry and my place in that plan appears less and less necessary to her. Her ambition has always been great and I have known since the beginning that she only married me for my blood status. My family only allowed the marriage to a woman of unknown origin if she hadn’t aided them through a time of financial difficulty.

Now though, it has become hard and hard to turn my back on her activities. I’m aware there are things I choose to remain ignorant of, some that I should not have ignored. These past few months it has been harder than ever. I believe is preparing to be rid of me. I believe she will kill me.

Of course, she will likely stage it as an accident or a sickness, but I wanted to warn you. I wanted to tell you my suspicions if they come to be, but I didn’t want to scare you if I didn’t need to. That is why I arranged for this letter to be sent. And if you are receiving it, then the worst has happened and she has killed me. I cannot express how heartbroken I am to leave you when you needed me most and I want to warn you. You must not defy your mother. If she has killed me, it is likely she would kill you too. You are my heart and my world, mija. Please be careful around your mother, please be wary, and please protect yourself. I do not want you to be joining me, you have so much to offer this world.

Please be safe.

With all my Love,

      Your Papi

 

Regina sat in silence on the top of the tower for a long time. She re-read the letter many times that night, making no effort to brush away the tears that fell continuously. Her mind ran in circles as she tried to figure out how she felt and as she tried to decide what to do.

By the time the sun began to rise, her eyes were dried and the folded letter was clutched tightly in her hand. She slowly rose to her feet, leaning heavily on her arms as she levered herself up on legs that had fallen asleep.

She would not be listening to her beloved father. If her mother killed him, something that fit eerily well with everything Regina knew and felt to be true, then Regina would bring her down. She could not sit by any longer and allow her mother to continue to ruin her lives and the lives of everyone she came into contact with. Regina wouldn’t stand by and watch any longer.

Regina resolved she would stop her mother or die trying.

 

 

 

 

 

 


	22. Preparation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Regina - Year 6  
> Emma - Year 5

Regina nearly snapped her quill in half she was so frustrated. Dammit, she needed an actual plan. Why was this so hard? She was nearly crying from the effort and the sheer pointlessness she felt it was.

Of course, she knew what the real problem was. The issue was that Regina didn’t have anyone to trust. Mother had such influence throughout he Ministry, she didn’t feel comfortable going to anyone with what she knew. How could she tell who was in Mother’s pocket or not?

And if she couldn’t go to someone with authority to arrest her, how could Regina stop Mother? Regina knew she couldn’t out duel her Mother. Regina shuddered at the very thought, never had a yew wand’s reputation been better deserved. She knew it was weak, but Regina wasn’t sure she could kill her mother even it was possible. She didn’t want to know that she could kill her own mother.

Perhaps she could blackmail Mother somehow? But Mother would just kill her and that just brought her back to the same problem of who could she threaten to tell that she trusted and could actually get Mother arrested.

Regina scowled down at the piece of paper she’d been trying to write ideas on which was now blotted with ink and she’d crossed out her last idea so hard that it had torn the parchment. Regina put down the quill and crumbled the paper up into a ball. She didn’t even need to say the incantation aloud of set it on fire when she pointed with her wand.

With a sigh, Regina pushed herself back from her desk. She needed to get out of her room. It was starting to feel claustrophobic.

Regina pulled on her robes over her night clothes and left her dormitory, only stopping to cast a quick disillusionment charm on herself before she left Ravenclaw tower. She ended up at the top of the Astronomy tower, grateful the wind was keeping away any amorous couples and sipping a Pepperup Potion she’d brewed herself to keep her temperature up, even if it meant having to fan steam away from her ears every few minutes.

She enjoyed the bracing air and the view, but couldn’t help but sigh as she leaning against the stone railing. There were no more solutions to her problems up here than there had been in her room. This was why she’d always just been planning to run away, not fight.

A slight scuffling noise, of footsteps caused her to turn around slowly. She knew quick movements would give her away more with her charm in place. Regina frowned when she didn’t see anyone. She’d almost think she confused the noise with the wind when she heard it again.

She was contemplating whether or not to move into the shadows and wait it out or to call out to whoever might be there when there was a ripple in the air. The distortion changed until it became a cloak.

A certain blonde head suddenly came into view. “Emma? What are you doing here?”

Emma jumped a bit when Regina tapped her own leg and her charm melted away. “Regina, there you are. Its really hard to focus on someone when they’re disillusioned.”

Regina just stared at her, refusing to let Emma dodge the question as she became more convinced that Emma was here for her.

Emma came over and tried for a casual smile, but Regina refused to play along or repeat herself. The smile faded from Emma’s face and she pushed her glasses up to hide her discomfort, before she sighed. “Not gonna play along?”

Regina shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest, although it looked more like she was hugging herself than anything particularly intimidating, “Why are you here?”

Emma shrugged and looked out over the parapet, “Maybe I just feel like we haven’t seen each other in a while.”

“Emma…” Regina said and heaved a deep sigh. She reached up and rubbed her forehead, she didn’t have the mind to dance around something the way they usually did.

“Maybe I’m just worried about you,” Emma finally admitted, moving to lean back against the low wall and look Regina in the eye. Regina was taken aback by the sudden sincerity, even if it had been what she was asking for. Still, she found it hard to look away from Emma’s clear green eyes. “Like, really worried.”

“I’m fine,” Regina said automatically. Emma’s frown deepened and Regina didn’t even need to hear Emma call her out on the lie to know Emma knew it was a lie. She tightened her arms around herself and looked away. “As fine as I can be,” she reluctantly amended.

“Regina…” Emma said, trailing off. Regina didn’t need to see to know Emma was had reached up to run her fingers through her hair as she sighed. “Come on, there’s something more going on. You think I can’t tell?”

Regina stiffened, “I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about.” Her voice was crisp, but defensive.

Now Emma was angry, “I thought we were past lying. You didn’t even try that time.”

Regina glared at Emma, “I thought we were past you sticking your nose where it didn’t belong.”

Correction, now Emma was pissed. “Oh, don’t give me that.”

Regina turned her head further away. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Miss Swan.” Immediately Regina knew that had been too much.

“Don’t “Miss Swan” me,” Emma sounded both angry and hurt now, she knew Regina was trying to pusher away, but it still stung. She reached out and grasped Regina’s upper arm to get the older girl to face her, “We’ve been through too much.”

“It’s none of your business,” Regina said, quietly. “Just leave it alone.” Leave _me_ alone.

“I can’t,” Emma pleaded. “You’ve been locking yourself in your room for hours, you’ve skipped every late night fly this month, you aren’t even coming to the great hall for meals half the time.”

Regina looked away, she knew that. Her other yearmates were worried about her too, she knew that. But they thought it would be best to let her sort it out by herself or were at least waiting a little longer. She should have known Emma wouldn’t wait. “I’m fine,” she repeated with even less conviction than before. “It’s just…I’ll be fine.”

Emma couldn’t take the despair in her friend’s voice, the lie buried within it, that told her maybe Regina didn’t think she would be fine. Finally, Emma decided to come right out and say it. No dancing around as Regina had said. “You’re scaring me, Regina! I know that losing your dad was hard, but—”

“Ha, losing. I didn’t misplace him. He—She—.” Regina just gave this frustrated, defeated sigh her eyes briefly meeting Emma’s before darting away. “Just, just go away.”

“Regina, I can tell there’s something you’re not telling me.” Regina had been in shock and deveastated, but after winter break, it had been worse. “I know something else happened. I want to help, please, just tell me what’s going on.” I hate seeing you like this.

When Regina completely turned her back to Emma, Emma walked around so she was in front of the other girl and crossed her arms, “I’m not leaving. You can’t make me go away. Tell. Me.”

That finally provoked a reaction beyond resigned despair and her frustration from earlier came back. Regina’s eyes sparked with anger and she practically growled at the blonde. “Urgh! Why are you this stubborn? It’s practically pathological.”

“I don’t know, why don’t you tell me?” Emma snapped back, raising an eyebrow.

Regina huffed, but didn’t answer. She couldn’t tell anyone about Mother, right? Emma was certainly trustworthy, but there was no way she actually suspected what was really going on. What if Emma tried to tell someone on her own? And yet, it would be so nice to talk to someone about everything. Finally, Regina came to a decision. “Will you swear not to tell anyone?”

Emma frowned, “Of course.”

“No, I mean _swear_ not to tell.” At Emma’s confused look, she elaborated, “A Vow. Will you vow to keep my confidence?”

“Yes,” Emma agreed. Ruby had told her about vows, about the one her mother had given Emma’s mother. A spell to ensure she kept her word, a simple price to pay to find out what was going with Regina.

“Hold out your hand,” Emma did so and Regina clasped it firmly. “Touch your wand to my hand and I will place mine on yours. Good. Now, do you Emma Swan do so swear to keep my confidence regarding the matter we discuss tonight and pledge not to reveal what I tell you unless forced?”

“I swear.”

Regina lifted her wand from Emma’s hand and a line of fire followed it. Instinctively, Emma copied her and drew her own wand from Regina. Regina drew her wand back to where Emma’s had rested on her own hand. When Emma copied, it left a blue fiery circle around their clasped hands.

“So it is.”

The blue circle flared before it died leaving just their clasped hands. Slowly, they released each other and drew their tingling hands to their sides.

Emma recovered first, “Now tell me, what is going on?”

“I’m not sure…” where to start, but of course, that was a lie. There was a very clear place to start and Emma knew it from the look she was giving her. “Very well. I… My mother killed my father. Murdered him.” Emma stared at her in complete shock and Regina herself felt rather dizzy suddenly. “Oh, I don’t believe I’ve said it aloud yet. I think I need to sit down.”

Emma automatically, reached out, clasping each of Regina’s arms and helping her to the ground to sit. With a lack of grace, Regina sat down hard, her back to the wall, her eyes wide. She drew in a few shuddery breaths.

Emma moved to sit down next to her as she tried to wrap her mind around what Regina had said. Her father wasn’t just dead, her _mother_ had killed him? “I thought your father’s death was an accident. I know your mother is a piece of work, but you really think—”

“She’s killed people before,” Regina admitted, also for the first time. Her head spun at finally revealing what she knew.

“What?” Emma sounded horrified.

Regina shoved the thought that Emma was horrified at her, knowing she’d never tell the truth if she was too worried about that. And she needed to tell someone. Her mind refocused on what she often tried not to think about, “She killed Daniel, that I know of. His grandfather too, I think. There was that article about the wizard that had gone missing, I think that was her. That witch, the one they found… Others too I think. Muggles.”

Her gaze moved from the middle distance and refocused on Emma, “She’s a horrible person, Emma. And I’m horrible for knowing about it. But she covers her tracks. She can manipulate or bully or blackmail. And some wouldn’t even care about the muggles.”

“She created a special spell. It lets her rip someone’s heart out. That’s how she really got the nickname ‘Queen of Hearts’.”

“How do you….”

“I watched her kill Daniel,” Regina said. “Its why I can see thestrals. He was a muggle boy who helped with our nonmagical horses, only he saw something he shouldn’t have and he…we… She decided to kill him rather than obliviate him. Teach me a lesson about consorting with muggles. It’s my fault he’s dead.”

“Its definitely her fault,” Emma said and Regina almost couldn’t believe how good it was to hear her say that. “And your dad…?”

“He must have been arguing with her more often. Or maybe there was fight, I don’t know,” Regina sighed and shrugged in frustration. “He wrote a letter mid-way through term and entrusted it someone to be sent in the event of his death. He said if anything happened, it was her. And after how she behaved when I was home…”

“Okay, okay. Look, your mother is clearly an insane murderer, but apparently,” Emma’s voice got a little hysterical on that word before she recovered, “that’s not new. So what does that have to do with how you’ve been acting?” It could just be that her mother had killed her dad, but Emma knew, even under her shock at this information, it was something else that was occupying Regina.

“I’ve known I need to escape her for years, my whole life it feels like, even as its seemed impossible. That’s what the potions money is for.” Emma’s eyes widened, she had always wondered why Regina seemed to work so hard for extra money when she was from a wealthy pureblood family. “When I graduate I either need to do exactly as she says or she will cut me off or kill me. Possibly both. I’ve known that.” Emma’s heart panged for Regina at the calm certainty in Regina’s voice. “But I thought there might be another way. If she’s k-killed Papi though… There is no other way. I have to bring her down. I have to stop her. Or I’ll never be free and I don’t know what she’ll do next if she isn’t stopped.”

Now Emma understood and a fresh shot of fear went through her, “And just how do you plan to do that? Regina, it sounds too dangerous. This isn’t a controlling parent, she’s actually a murderer!”

“I know, I know. That’s what’s been occupying me. My plans all involved running, not fighting. I need to come up with a plan. A good one. A perfect plan. I _need_ to stop her. Every death I told myself it wasn’t my fault, that there was nothing I could do to stop her, but now, I need to find a way. I can’t let it go on.”

Emma was already nodding, “I get it.”

Regina blinked at the simple statement, at the way Emma managed to convey that she understood both why Regina hadn’t done anything before and why she was so determined to do something now. A very small smile flashed across her face, the only one all night.

A contemplative silence fell over them as they leaned against the cool stone and the night breeze swept around them. Regina offered Emma some of her Pepperup potion which the blonde accepted gratefully.

Eventually, once she had finished really absorbing everything Regina had laid out, Emma said, “You could go to the aurors. It’s their job, right?”

Regina sighed, “Mother has at least a couple under her thumb and I don’t know which ones. I can’t go to someone and then have them turn me over to her. And what if they don’t believe me? Or they think I’ve been helping her. It’s too big of a risk.”

Emma frowned, thinking that over. Regina was right to be wary if her mother really had that much influence I the Ministry. Still… “I know some aurors. From all that stuff a couple years ago,” she waved vaguely and Regina nodded to show she knew what Emma was referring to. “Maybe they could help. They’re solid, the ones I know—not in anyone’s pocket.”

Regina frowned, “I had seriously considered going through official channels, but in the end I wasn’t sure how to tell who to trust.” She thought it over and looked Emma in the eye, she seemed confident in these aurors she knew. “You trust these guys?”

“Yes,” Emma replied without any doubt.

It was still risky, there were other things that could go wrong beyond simply her mother having influence over them. Mistakes could still happen, information could get into the wrong hands.  Did she have a better plan? After a few minutes, Regina nodded, “Well, alright then.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. If we do it this way, we can’t just tell them what I old you. They’ll need proof. Likely a confession.” Regina frowned as she thought aloud, “What we’ll need is likely to figure out how to alter my family wards to allow them to come in, I’ll need to keep mother from escaping and be sure she doesn’t find out ahead of time or destroy any evidence….”

“How can I help?”

-x-x-x-

Emma and Regina nervously slipped through the bar area of the Three Broomsticks. Madame Rosmerta was quick to show them to the private room that had been arranged for there in person meeting with the aurors they’d been owling for the past couple weeks.

“They’re already waiting,” the bar’s owner explained. “Came in very discretely, dears—don’t worry. No one aside from myself knows they’re here. Refrshments are already inside, but you let me knowfi you need anything else.”

Emma and Regina murmur their thanks, staring at the brown door in front of them. Madame Rosmerta leaves and one of them has to open it. After they exchange a look, Emma reaches for the handle and they go in.

The room is cozy and cabin-like with a fireplace in the hearth, a large table in the center of the room, and a few older, squishy chairs scatted throughout it. A man and woman are seated at the table while another lounges by the fireplace.

All three are looking them as the girls come in, but it was the man who spoke first, “Hello Emma, it’s good to see you again.”

Emma smiled, unable to remain on her guard with Archie there. “Hi Archie, good to see you too.” A second shape rises from the ground by his feet, “You too, Pongo.”

Pongo barked a quiet greeting before heading over to Regina. Regina is quick to kneel down to greet him, relieved to have someone else to focus on, a chance to gather her thoughts.

The other women exchange greetings with Emma until Regina stands back up from petting Pongo and goes over to join them.

Emma motioned her closer and said, “These are the aurors I’ve told you about: Archie Hooper, Tamara Jones, and Guinevere Queen.”

“Hello,” Regina greeted them, feeling her polite mask honed from years of social affairs slip into place only a little more stiffly than usual.

“Hello,” Guinevere replied, smiling kindly. “I understand you have something you’d like to talk to us about. Shall we get down to business?”

“Of course,” Regina said and they all sat down at the table, the two students on one side and the aurors on the other.

“Now, first let me tell you about the protections we have on this room,” Tamara said, motioning around the room as she spoke. “The room ahs been swept for listening spells, imperturbable charms have been cast on the windows and doors. We have spells in place to actively check for any new spells that might be added.”

Regina relaxed ever so slightly and she nodded, “Good.”

“Now, according to your letters,” Archie began, addressing both of them. “You have come into possession of knowledge regarding Dark activities, specifically of a Dark wizard who has been operating for the past few years. Could you please tell us more about that?”

Emmma looked to Regina and the other aurors followed her lead. Regina took a deep breath and said, “A Dark Witch. I have knowledge of a witch who has been using Dark magic to control wizards and witches, including those in the Ministry. Additionally, she has killed wizards and muggles alike, several over the past few years.”

Tamara sat back in her chair, her expression inscrutable, “That’s a serious accusation.”

Regina straightened in her char. “I’m aware. She has considerable influence, I only come to you because Emma has personally vouched for you.”

“We are glad you have told us, if it’s true, as such a person would need to be brought to justice,” Guinevere said gravely. “Do you have proof of these activities?”

Regina frowned, “Some, she covers her tracks well. She has disclosed to me in the past some of her actions. She has a large collection of Dark artefacts, but they are heavily guarded. However, she has…She killed a muggle in front of me, a few years ago.”

“Why were you there? Who is it?” Tamara asked, her eyes a bit hard.

Regina looked back into them and could see the older witch already knew so she plucked up her courage. “Cora Navar. And I know because she is my mother.”

Tamara merely nodded and leaned back in her chair. “Yes, Cora Navar, she’s been on my radar for a number of years.”

“Mine as well,” Guinevere concurred. “She always gets her way and when she doesn’t, people tend to disappear until she does.”

Archie was frowning at Regina, “You say she killed a muggle in front of you? Why?”

Emma bristled a bit at the idea that the reason behind it even mattered, but kept it to herself.

“He.. he helped care for our horse, non-magical ones that we often breed with a flying breed. He saw something he shouldn’t have, it was partially my fault. Mother decided to rip out his heart instead of obliviate him.”

Guinevere leaned forward, “Ripped out his heart?”

Regina nodded. When Archie poured her a glass of water, she drank from it gratefully. “Yes, she has a spell, one which allows her to pull out a, a construct of a physical heart. She can then control them or kill them by crushing it. No magical trace, not like the killing curse.”

Archie looked taken aback and Guinevere turned to him, “I’ve heard rumors of such a spell and of Cora Navar being found of it from her hit wizard days.” She turned back to Regina, “and you say she has Dark artefacts too. Illegal ones?”

“Yes, she has a vault at the house,” Regina said, eyes darting from one auror to the other, surprised they hadn’t called her a liar yet. “She’s taken me there a few times.”

“We’d need probable cause to search her property,” Archie put in. “And she would likely get warning ahead of time. That would cause her to destroy evidence or flee.”

“Her word isn’t enough though, not to get a warrant to search the house of Cora Navar,” Tamara cut in. “We’d need a confession to move against their estate.”

“That’s what we figured,” Emma said, speaking for the first time since the conversation got serious. “We were thinking Regina could plant a listening spell in her house, drug her mum with Veritaserum, and get her to confess to at least one murder. Then you could swoop in, storm the house and search it—catching her off guard with no time to destroy any evidence.”

All three aurors looked blankly at Emma before turning to look at each other. Tamara spoke first, “That could work.”

-x-x-x-

Regina found Emma once more in the thestral clearing, although this time she was alone. Emma didn’t look up when Regina came closer, although it was obvious Emma knew it was her. A broom on the ground next to her told Regina she’d been flying earlier, but it hadn’t been enough to help her feel better.

Regina looked down at Emma, or rather the top of her head, as she had her invisibility cloaked partially wrapped around her and Regina could see parts of her. It was rather strange to look at.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Regina asked quietly.

Emma just shook her head without looking up or making any other noises.

Regina pressed her lips together, concern in every line of her body, but said nothing further. Instead she merely sat down against the large tree next Emma. She was just glad she’d finally found Emma. Today was her parents anniversary, of their marriage, not their death—it was the day everyone honored them and everyone felt like they could come up to Emma to talk about them. Regina had remembered Emma’s tense behavior last year so she hadn’t been surprised she wasn’t to be seen. It hadn’t stopped her from worrying though.

Regina was content to wait with Emma for about twenty minutes until Emma finally spoke up. “It’s about my parents,” Emma said in a raspy voice.

Regina nodded, “Yes, I’d suspected it was. What about them?”

“I hate today,” Emma admitted in a raspy voice that shook with repressed anger. “I hate it. I hate that the teachers let me have it off, I hate everyone’s stupid pity looks, I hate the way people try to cheer me up. I hate it so much.”

Regina studied her furious friend carefully. “Okay.”

Emma waited a beat, as if expecting Regina to say something more. When she didn’t Emma didn’t if she was glad or annoyed not to have an excuse to keep ranting. Her words built up quickly and she would herself saying them anyway, “And it’s not…its not because…” Emma gave an inherent noise of frustration before leaping to her feet. “I hate them!”

“Who?” Regina asked, confused. “The—”

“My parents!” Regina’s eyes widened at that, she’d thought Emma would say her fellow students or the professors, not her parents.

“Do you know what people love to say to me today?” Emma asked rhetorically, hands on her hips. “They love to say things like: ‘You’re so kind, just like your father.’” Her voice adopted a mocking tone as she spoke, “Or, “your parents were so brave, it was so good they were such brave heroes.’ ‘They’d be proud of you if they were alive.’ ‘Your father used to look like that when he was studying.’”

“Well, guess what? I don’t care,” Emma said definitively. “And they don’t get to take credit for any part of me! I don’t look like David or sound like Snow, I’m not nice like David was or stubborn like Snow was—I’m nice like I am.” She pointed to herself, “I’m stubborn because I’m stubborn, not because of two dead people I never even met and couldn’t remember with all the magic in the world!

“I hate that they get credit for any part of me. They didn’t raise me, they didn’t know me! They are not why I’m me! I worked hard to be nice or good at DADA or Quidditch!” Emma was shouting now, although it was obvious it wasn’t at Regina, who was just watching Emma with wide eyes.

Emma sighed, “I’m so sick and tired of it. I don’t want to hear it. They decided to send me away, and they did such a bloody good job of it, I got thrown into the foster system—I’m still stuck in it! Even if they’d died, I could have, have grown up with Ruby here! Instead I got shit! Why?! Why do they get to throw me away and have everyone to say what a fantastic job they did as parents? It’s such bullshit!” Emma was breathing hard, as if getting all this out in the open was a herculean effort.

Emma started to pace around, “Why isn’t what I worked hard for ever good enough to be because of me? Why does it have to be because of who two dead people were!? It’s not fair. They’re not me and I’m not them! They’re not my parents! They’re two people who kickstarted all the crap that happened in my life!

She turned abruptly and went back to Regina and the tree, “And then I had to clean up their mess, risking my life and my friends, for what? To be told how everyone knew I would be able to do it because I’m their kid and how they’d be proud of me? No!”

“And every year on the anniversary of their marriage—since everyone thought it’d be so nice to honor their memory on a happy day for them, it’s all dialed up to eleven and I have to hear it all. Day. Long,” she scowled more fiercely than Regina had ever seen. Her lip curled up as she spat, “And say ‘thank you’. I’m just so completely sick of it.”

“Why can’t I just be Emma Swan?” There was a desperate quality to that last question. Regina knew that question well. Why can’t I be enough? It was a question she asked herself. It was a question she knew Emma, who had been in numbers of foster homes, had asked herself too, even if she’d never come out and say it until now.

“You’re right,” Regina said plainly. Emma froze, she had not expected that. She’d expected Regina to…to… Emma didn’t know what. “It _is_ bullshit.”

Emma blinked, “Did you just swear?”

Regina gave her an exasperated look Emma had seen dozens of times before. “Really? That’s what you’re focusing on?”

Emma felt a strangely warm sensation when she realized that, whatever Regina thought of her speech, it clearly hadn’t changed Regina’s opinion of her too much. “Well, you’ve never done before.”

Regina rolled her eyes and patted the ground next to her, “Sit back down, its hurting my neck to look up at you.”

Emma laughed briefly, but complied, even as doing so caused her nerves to start up again.

“I’ve never thought of what you brought up, but I should have. Of course its frustrating. Whatever you feel, is what you feel. I’m not gonna tell you that’s wrong.” Emma flushed with pleasure at that. “I’m just sorry, this day is such a trial. And you’re right, a lot of people wouldn’t understand.

 

 

“Do you know why I worry I’ll turn into my mother? Because I think things and I worry its because I’m her daughter, or worse, that I’m just a bad person. Because, Emma, I’m glad your parents died. Because you’re right, of course you are.”

“You wouldn’t be who you are if they’d lived, if they’d raised you. I know how much how your parents shape you as a person.” She gave a bitter laugh, “I’m the poster child for that.”

“I wouldn’t recognize Emma White, daughter of Snow and David White. I don’t know what she would do or say, but I wouldn’t trust her, I don’t think. Because I only trust you and she wouldn’t be you, if that makes any sense. She probably wouldn’t have needed tutoring or have been sneaking around watching out for her friend or broke into broomsheds in the middle of the night. I can’t see anyone besides you offering to help me take down my crazy mother. She’d probably be spoiled and pure and have run to the Ministry right away. Emma white is a stranger and I wouldn’t be able to understand a thing about her.”

“But you do with me?”

“You said it yourself. We understand each other better than most, for better or worse. And I’m just too selfish to lie and say I’d change that for anything. Emma Swan is my friend and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Emma looked at her for a long moment, before she gave a small nod and an even smaller smile. Regina nodded back. Emma leaned back against the tree and draped the cloak over both of them. She closed her eyes and Regina ended up copying her, feeling more at peace than she had since she couldn’t remember.

When she woke up slowly hours later, she found Emma’s head resting on her shoulder and se was pretty sure she knew why.

-x-x-x-

A few weeks later, Emma came to the empty classroom they’d been using on Saturday afternoon to work out ideas and the plan originally, and now Regina had been using to work on her write-ups for the auror team while Emma studied to keep her company.

“Hey, Regina,” Emma greeted as she came in and waved at her with one of pillows from the Transfiguration room she’d brought with her. “I think figured out a good way I can help—besides just sitting next you as you get things done for Archie and them.” Regina put aside her parchment to give Emma her full attention and nodded for her to continue. There’s a big chance you’ll end up dueling your mother, right?”

“Yes,” Regina swallowed nervously at the thought. “Unfortunately. At least until the aurors get there. Why?”

“Well,” Emma began, outing her things down and sitting backwards on one of the chairs, “I know a lot of self-defense spells they don’t teach here at school. And not to brag or anything, I can do them better too. How about I teach you some spells to help with the fight?”

Regina had known Emma was a good dueler since she was a prominent member in the school club. Still, she wasn’t sure if this was the best use of their time. “What would be an example of something you would suggest teaching me?”

“Okay, um,” Emma dug out a piece of parchment with writing on it. Regina was actually rather impressed the Hufflepuff had written part of her plan down. “First up on the list would be Protego, the shield charm.”

“Emma,” Regina gave her a patient, but exasperated look. “I do know the shield charm.”

Emma shook her head, “There’s knowing it and mastering it. Also, there are variations. Protego Duo would be useful for you to know, since its more powerful than the one covered in Charms.” Emma backed up a couple steps, “Let me demonstrate.”

She stood up and quickly cast, “ _Protego duo!_ ” An almost visible barrier came into being around her. Regina had to admit, she was impressed. Emma had called the spell up more quickly an effortlessly than Regina could have. The brief visible flare of the shield was larger too than the ones Regina had leaned in class.

Emma was still maintaining the spell and she gestured at Regina, “Try and break it.”

Regina shrugged and stood up, curious as to how strong it was. “ _Depulso!_ ” Emma was pushed back a meter from the banishing spell, but that was it and the shield spell still held. Regina frowned, “ _Diffindo!_ ” The cutting charm had even less of an obvious effect as it hit the shield and didn’t push Emma at all.

Now Regina was a little annoyed, she should be able to shatter a shield spell. “ _Stupefy!_ ” This time she put more power into the spell than the others. It was enough to finally caused the spell to break, although Emma was able to deflect it so she was still conscious.

“See?” Emma said, “A typical shield spell would have broken after the first. There’s Stupefy Due is a more powerful version of that spell as well.” There’s a trick to deflecting as well, sometimes you can send the person spell back at them, not perfect aim, but enough to distract them. This particular spell you want to be able to cast fast and strong—same for any of the ones you used.”

Regina considered all this and nodded, “Alright. Teach me.”

Emma gave a small smile at their reversal of roles, before carefully walking Regina through the typical shield spell and its variant.

After an hour or so, Regina was able to cast a typical shield spell much more quickly than before and she’d started learning the strong version as well. They were both a disheveled and tired from the rigorous practice—as well as the times their spells had made it past the other’s barriers. Which remined Emma of the other thing she wanted to practice with Regina, “Also, I’d want to help you train with weaving and dodging—often evasive maneuvers are better than a countercurse.”

“I suppose it saves on energy. I know champion duelers have a reputation for being quick on their feet,” Regina nodded decisively. “Alright, sounds good.”

“Although, speaking of countercurses,” Emma put in. What spells does your mother prefer? We should still brush up and practice anything we know will help with the spells she likes.”

Regina considered the question, hoping she wasn’t giving anything too damning away regarding Mother’s treatment of her. “She tends to use hover spells, conjuring ropes or belts, and banishing spells. She likes to immobilize her vic—opponents and then, of course, use her signature heart spell. She prefers it over the typical unforgiveable curses—after all, it can do all three. She won’t resort to Unforgivables until after she’s tried and failed to keep me still.”

Emma tried to keep her face neutral. For all she knew they were doing this so Regina could fight her mother, she still hated the thought of Regina facing off alone against a mass murderer. “I’ll look into seeing if there’s any spell to help with those, you can keep working on those reports for the aurors. Practice tomorrow?”

-x-x-x-

Two weeks later, Emma was late to their now habitual self-defense/dueling training. Regina wasn’t concerned quite yet, but she was starting to look at the clock more than once a minute.

Ten minutes late, Emma ran into the room and very self-satisfied expression on her face. “Hey, guess what? I think I finally found what we need.”

“And what exactly do we need?” Regina asked, amused by Emma’s enthusiasm.

“A counterspell to your mum’s heart stealing spell.” Regina merely blinked at Emma in complete surprise as Emma barreled on with her explanation. “This spell was originally intended to discourage grave robbing, which, gross. I guess that was a real problem in ye old days.

Between muggle medical students, wizard experimenters, and general creeps—people were very concerned about post-mortem organ theft. Eventually, the practice of enchanting the coffin or cremation, were preferred to actual spells on the body, but before then—boom! Spells to keep all your parts inside your body.”

Regina actually laughed at that, “You sound like you’ve had a very educational time looking this up.”

“Let’s just say Mary Margaret is very concerned about me,” Emma said, smiling. “And she was concerned before.”

That brought Regina up rather short and she looked down to fiddle with her quill. “I bet she is,” Regina murmured, resentful of the other girl’s judgmental attitude—she was sure Mary Margaret had warned Emma since the beginning about being so friendly with Cora Navar’s daughter. It didn’t help that Mary Margaret was right about her mother.

“Ruby, on the other hand, wants in. She thinks I’m getting into to trouble on my own and she’s annoyed about being left out,” Emma joked, trying to lighten the mood—she knew the two brunettes didn’t like each other, for all they rarely interacted.

“You didn’t…” Regina looked up, alarmed.

“No,” Emma quickly reassured her. “Of course not.”

“Okay.” Regina felt guilty for her automatic defensive reaction, but Emma didn’t seem mad. She relaxed slightly.

“So anyway, this spell is supposed the keep significant organs in the body. And its says it works best when coupled with a specific potion.” Regina perked up at that and gestured for the book. Emma laughed as she handed it over, “I figured that would get you on board. I don’t know if it will work against your mother’s spell, since she takes a symbolic heart, but I figured it was worth a shot, yeah?”

Regina speed read enough to get the gist and she was impressed, “Yes, I agree. It’s the most promising possible counter I’ve ever seen.”

“Great! Let’s get started!”

It took over a month to prep the potion seeing as Regina wanted to make enough of it so that there would be some leftover for her to use when the time came. It was to be ingested and would be effective for the next 24 hours. The spell meanwhile should hold for about two hours—give or take the strength and skill with which it was performed. This meant she could hopefully cast the spell before dueling her mother.

Emma meanwhile, had been practicing an intangibility charm which should allow her hand to pass through solid objects, including people, as a way to test Regina’s mastery of the blocking spell. She;d managed to succeed in performing it, reaching through Regina’s arm last weekend.

Finally, they were ready to actually try the spell. Regina had drunk the potion with lunch and now she was reviewing the wand movements as well as practicing the incantation.

“Ready?” Emma asked.

“Yes,” Regina said with more confidence than she felt. Bringing her wand up and then down, tracing an infinity sign in front of her she said, “ _Impertabilius Totalus Bodium!”_

A brilliant flash of white light from the symbol Regina had just traced in the air flared and a white sheen flowed over Regina’s body. Regina shuddered form the cool feeling the small wave of magic gave off.

Then she nodded at Emma, who nodded back. “ _Intangilus_!” Emma made the correct movement and ended by tapping her hand which tingled and faded slightly. Emma carefully reached forward and made to put her hand through Regina’s shoulder. Instead, it was as if she hadn’t cast the spell at all. Emma’s hand met solid flesh, eagerly, Emma moved her hand down and tried to press against Regina’s chest where her heart would be. Her hand phased through Regina’s robes, but was halted by her flesh.

Her eyes shot up to meet Regina’s, “it works!” She pulled her hand back quickly before it slipped to low.

Regina just starred down in shock. She had never, ever, thought she might find a spell that promised the slightest chance of stopping mother’s heart spell. But Emma had thought, Emma had found her best for escaping from Cora with her heart intact. She smiled, “It does.”

Regina’s restrained relief brought Emma down from her excitement. The stakes were just so high. “Do you think this will be enough?” Emma asked, suddenly unsure of all of their preparation.

Regina’s face was solemn as she replied, “It has to be.”

 

 

 

 


	23. Confrontation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Regina - Summer after Year 6  
> Emma - Summer after Year 5

Regina quietly slipped down the hallway and out into the cool night. Her mother should be sleeping soundly at the other end of the house, but Regina couldn’t help but be as cautious as possible. She’d chosen tonight specifically because the party they’d come home from a couple hours ago was at the Rosiers’, a family known for their cultivation of magical grape and wine varieties. Her mother loved nothing more than indulging herself at these parties, for all she never lost control of her faculties, it nevertheless put her to sleep far more thoroughly than anything else once they returned.

She used her magic to ease open all the doors before heading outside into the garden. Carefully and steadily she made her way through the hedge maze her mother had planted—cursed so that touching the greenery causing it to attack and spelled so that one couldn’t fly over it—nor was what it looked like from the air accurate. All protection measures for the spell matrix at the center.

The deceptively decorative mausoleum in actuality house the linchpins for the estates defensive spells and enchantments. Regina walked up to the door and grasped hold of the doorknob. It had a built-in mechanism which pricked her palm. Recognizing her blood as the same bloodline as Cora’s, it opened easily. If someone not of their bloodline tried, a fast-acting poison was administered. It a person wore gloves, their hand would be frozen fast to the door and quickly fall victim to hypothermia.  

For once, Regina was grateful Cora relied of blood magic so heavily. It as a safe bet, her mother didn’t have any other living relatives that Regina knew of—in fact given how she spoke of her father, Regina was fairly certain he was the first person she’d killed—nor would she ever suspect Regina of turning on her.

Quietly, Regina slipped in, closing the door behind her. Now, to locate the anti-apparition protocols. “ _Lumos_ ,” Regina said, lighting her wand to help her as she read the closely etched runes that covered the walls. She scanned carefully, glad they’d been here recently to add her own name to the apparition list as a full fledged exception instead of a side-long contingent.

She found the right section within a few moments. Tapping that block with her wand made it slowly push out from the wall and hover, waiting for her to modify it as she wished.

Regina carefully traced her own name in the symbols which dictated who could apparate onto the property without permission, which then allowed her, as an adult household member and heiress to the property to adjust the parameters. Carefully, consulting closely with the runic versions of the aurors’ names she’d been provided, she added each in as an exception.

As she slid the block back into place, Regina regretted that she could not turn off the ‘doorbell’ function. Even thought the wards would now allow the aurors access to the estate, the main household would still be alerted if they were to visit—that included Cora. She also couldn’t change the apparition destination as all visitors besides herself and Cora would be directed to the same location when apparating in.

There was nothing to be done as both precautions were built completely into the wards so she would merely have to stall between their arrival at the edge of the property.

That was what they had prepared for, Regina reminded herself as she left and resealed the mausoleum behind her.

She’d had risked sending her own owl around midday while Mother was out to let them know that they would be moving tomorrow. Now there was no going back. Tomorrow, one way or another, it would end.

-x-x-x-

Regina’s nerves jangled in her skin and she focused all her attention as appearing as normal as possible. She gave Cerdita a quiet ‘thank you’ as the house elf brought the first breakfast course of oatmeal. She’d already been in the kitchens and added the required Veritaserum to her mother’s coffee.

Cora eyed her daughter as she sipped her drink, but incorrectly attributed her nerves to Cora’s opinion of her performance at the party last night, “You really must do a better job of talking to Robin, dear.”

Regina hoped the small flash of triumph at her mother’s non-reaction to the potion was disguised by her ducking her head, “I’m sorry, Mother. I was trying my best.”

“That’s no excuse. He needs to want to marry you, you need to make him want to.

 

“Is he really the best choice?” Regina couldn’t help but say. She knew it didn’t matter anymore—either her mother would be brought down today or she escaped capture and it was only a matter of time before she killed Regina for the betrayal. “He doesn’t seem very…” Anything really, the man was extremely bland. Perhaps that’s why Mother had chosen him—she thought he would be easy to control since her had no personality.

Cora’s yes flashed in warning. “That is not for you to decide. I know what’s best for you.”

Immediately Regina bent her head over her plate. “Yes, Mother.” Regina needed to find a way to guide the conversation so that her mother would reveal enough incriminating information to satisfy the aurors. “I just want to understand.”

Cora sighed, “You shouldn’t need an explanation if you were as smart as you think you are. His father is head of the Magical Law Department. His mother is high up in our foreign relations department, both very promising areas. A marriage would guarantee you an influential starting position. We can use that to expand our influence, those are linchpins in wizarding society. I’ve told you this before, if you ever listened competently.”

Cora sniffed and gave her a look Regina recognized, it was the “are you sure you belong in Ravenclaw because you clearly have learned nothing from me” look. Regina no longer needed her mother to say the words for her to hear them. And her mother knew it.

“Really, Regina,” Cora said with a head shake. “How are we supposed to shape the future when you can’t even manipulate a single person into marrying you?”

“I’m sorry, Mother,” Regina replied dully, knowing there was nothing more that she could say. Better Mother think she was weak than that she was a threat.

Cora hummed disapprovingly to herself before deciding to ignore her daughter in favor of reading the _Prophet_.

Regina ate slowly, trying to come up with a way to bring up a topic that would lead to Mother confessing to murdering someone, but she spent so much of her time avoiding topics like that, not wanting the reminder, that she was failing to figure out how to do it. All the ideas she’d brainstormed with Emma were gone from her head and she was left staring blankly at the food in front of her.

Luckily, Cora managed to do so all on her own when she tutted at the story she was reading, “Look at this, Silver family—disgraced by their failure of a son. Killed by giants trying to treat with them.”

Cora looked at Regina over the edge of the paper, “This is why trying to do anything beyond eliminate inferior races is foolishness. The popular thing these days is to try treat inferior creatures as if they’re on the same level with us. Well, this is where this gets you. Power is the only thing every being understands. Some people simply don’t have what it takes to survive in this world,” Cora finished contemptuously.

Regina saw the opening offered to her and replied quietly, “Like Papi.”

Cora looked up at her carefully, “Yes.” Then she turned back to her paper, and said, almost as an afterthought, “If your father had been stronger, I wouldn’t have had to kill him.”

Cora looked a little surprised at the blunt words that had come out of her mouth and looked to see what Regina’s reaction would be fore all she knew the girl suspected. Regina’s eyes were wide at the confirmation. Before either could react, a distant sound caught their attention.

Despite knowing it was on the edge of their property, both witches heard the distinct cracks of multiple apparitions onto the property. Cora frowned, her magic in tune with and analyzing their defensive spellwork immediately, “Who is trespassing? How…” Her eyes went wide and then narrowed at Regina, “Why does it appear as if you have added exceptions to our anti-apparition wards?”

Regina swallowed, “B-because I have.”

“Who are these…?” Cora turned away from Regina and waved a hand at the large mirror on the wall. The five person team racing towards the house on broomsticks appeared and their distinctive uniform made it obvious what they were. “Aurors? Why they be…?” Her mind seemed to fill in the blanks without Regina answering.

Regina’s wand had slipped into her hand the second she heard the cracks and her grip tightened as her mother came to the inevitable conclusion that her daughter had brought them here.

Cora turned from the mirror to Regina, disbelief in every line of her face, “What have you set in motion, you insolent child?”

Regina felt a strange calm come over her. It was done and the aurors were coming, she only needed to stall for time. “Your undoing, Mother.”

Cora’s face contorted in rage as she understood that someone had been listening. She cast a nonverbal spell and red sparks shot from her wand. Her eyes darted around quickly and her face darkened when they landed on the vase in the center of the table which was outlined in red light.

“ _Reducto_!” The vase and flowers disintegrated instantly and Regina felt a stab of fear knowing the auror team could no longer hear them. In the corner of her ye she could see them react to the listening spell’s destruction.

Regina jumped backward without thought, pushing her chair from the table.

“Oh, no you don’t. _Impedimenta!”_ Cora said, attempting to slow Regina down, but Regina automatically dropped to the floor, remembering all of Emma’s lessons about how dodging was often more useful than a counterspell.

Cora’s face grew angrier as she stood up from her own seat and Regina scrambled to her feet as she backed away. Cora began a motion Regina recognized from countless punishments, floatation spell.

Just as Cora brought her arm up, Regina brought hers down. “ _Protego Duo_!” Regina yelled, her arm making the motion without a thought, honed by long practice.

The spell bounced harmlessly off the shield and held through the severing charm Cora cast seconds later. Regina tried to retreat as much as possible, but Cora was fast, circling towards her.

A complex motion and Cora conjured ropes, which snaked towards her a sickeningly quick speed. Regina tried to back away from them, but they burst through the weakened shield spell and began ensnaring her. Cora grinned triumphantly and began pulling Regina towards her. Luckily, this was a situation she’d prepared for.

“ _Incendio_!” Flames leapt from her wand, fierce and hot as Regina’s anger over how many times her mother had done this to her. She practiced how to cast the spell so that she didn’t burn herself but the hot nearly all blue flames ate away at her bonds with ease. To her joy, it worked even better than expected, the flames raced up the ropes and to Cora’s wandhand. Cora cursed and had to conjure water to put of the flames. The look on her face was one Regina had pictured for years and it was even more satisfying than she’d imagined.

Regina edged closer to the door but tripped over and chunk of the vase Cora had destroyed. She landed awkwardly, trying to catch her fall with both arms and not break her wand.

“Oh no, you don’t. _Carpe Retractum!_ ” Cora cast causing a rope of light wrapped around her and began to pull Regina towards her mother.

Regina didn’t react fast enough as Cora moved to meet her. Cora drew her wand up and Regina was lifted off her feet. “You think you can betray me? I am your mother!” Cora hissed.

“You brought this down upon yourself,” she said before reaching for Regina’s chest. Her hand rested there a moment both Cora moved to push her hand into Regina’s chest and rip her heart out.

However, Cora’s hand did not go in. Cora’s face fell when her hand merely pushed Regina away rather than going in and allowing her to grasp Regina’s heart. She instantly tried again, with more force to push into Regina’s chest but her fingers merely groped at flesh.

Regina savored her shock even as she cast, “ _Depulso_!” And Cora was flung a couple meters away. Regina landed heavily on the ground, but recovered quickly enough to take advantage of her mother’s confusion to point towards the large window to her right and shout, “ _Reducto!_ ” Then entire window blew out and should help make sure the aurors knew where to come.

“What did you do!?” Cora screamed. “How did you counter my spell?”

Regina panted as she moved backwards. “Wouldn’t you like to know, Mother. Did you not think I would seek every way to protect my heart?”

Cora went to lunge forward, when a bolt of red light hit the ground between them. The women turned to the window in time to see an auror on a broomstick shoot by.

Cora’s attention immediately switched to the aurors and Regina ended up having to simply hide—there were too many spells flying around for her to safely help since she was just as likely to hit an auror as she was to hit her mother, if not more so.

Eventually, a Scottish voice called, “Regina? Ye can come out now, we’ve got her.”

Slowly, Regina emerged from behind the damaged door to the cabinet. She found one auror unconscious, but otherwise unhurt and the other four standing around her mother who was out cold in the middle of her destroyed dining room.

Regina slowly came closer, have expecting her mother to wake up at any moment and curse them all. “There you are, Regina,” Archie said with evidently relief. “We were worried when she destroyed the listening spell. Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” Regina said, dazed as she continued to look at Cora. She flinched when Tamara conjured ropes to hold her and kicked away her wand. It didn’t seem real, none of this.

A loud groan caused her head to snap around, but it was only the one unconscious auror who was evidently waking up.

The second groan caused her to look back down at Cora who was also waking up. As soon as she was moderately awake, her eyes found Regina’s. They narrowed to dark pinpricks as she spat out “How dare you.”

“You killed Papi,” Regina said simply, “Of course I dared.”

Tamara grasped Cora’s shoulder then and began to move her into another room. That was when Cora final addressed the aurors, immediately yelling at them and demanding her advocate.

Archie led her in the opposite direction and handed her a glass of water. He spoke soothingly to her as her heart very slowly stopped racing.

Eventually, all the aurors except one returned to where she was sitting. Regina tensed waiting for one of them to speak.

“Hey kid, listen,” Merida said, clasping her shoulder warmly, “You did a great job, but we knew just getting the confession and capturing her wouldn’t be enough.”

Regina smiled at the praise but sobered at the rest of her words. She nodded agreement.

“Now,” Guinevere cut in, “Cora is already claiming illegal use of poison. She’s asked to contact a number of very powerful people. She’ll claim we’re conspiring against her, setting her up. All she needs is one of those people to get her out and we’ll never find her again. More than her confession, we need proof. Solid proof.”

“So what’ve you got?” Merida said.

Tamara was frowning as she thought, “You said she had trophies and Dark items. That would be the most useful. Can you access them?”

Regina nodded, “Yes, I can—I can show you to her vault.”

“Lead the way, Miss Navar,” Archie said.

Regina had them follow her upstairs to the large drawing room Cora used primarily for entertaining and impressing allies. Regina ushered them into the room and Tamara spoke up skeptically, “This doesn’t seem like a very secret place to hide Dark artefacts.”

“I believe she enjoyed the thought of having it close by but hidden, it amused her to think of how close they often were to her secret and yet they did not know it,” Regina admitted as she walked across the room to the large fireplace on the opposite wall from the door they came through. “That or she did care if they knew because they would not care that she had them.”

“Either way, the vault is here.” Regina gestured to the burning fireplace and the aurors gathered around.

“This is a false front,” Regina explained. “See? _Verdimillious!_ ” The entire fireplace, mantle and wall were illuminated by the purple sparks, revealing the entrance that was hidden by Dark magic. Regina strode forward and made a complicated gesture with her wand before hissing the password.

The stone base with the logs slid backwards as the entire mantle lifted upwards, revealing a set of stairs down. Regina slowly walked down and approached the large forbidding doorway at the end of the short hallway.

“What’s that sound?” Archie asked, a bit nervously, looking around for the source. Thump, thump, thump. It got louder with each step they took forward.

“You know what they call her,” Regina said plainly as she arranged the stone pieces on the door in the correct formation.

“Queen of Hearts,” Guinevere said, with a shiver.

“Diffindo,” Regina muttered and didn’t even flinch when the charm open a shallow gash on her arm. The others jumped a bit a the casual display even as Regina calmly pressed her bleeding arm against the door. As the stone split down the middle and revealed the inner chamber, she said, “These are her hearts.”

Regina lead the way into the small room the walls studded with faintly glowing and beating hearts.

“Whose are they?” Archie asked, looking around the room with horror. Rows and rows of boxes lining the walls.

“Muggles mostly,” Regina said, she gestured at the circles at the end of the majority of the boxes before pointing at one marked with a triangle. “She only took a few of wizard hearts, so as not to arouse suspicion.”

All were clearly very disturbed, it was Archie who seemed most unable to keep his questions to himself, “So, you said you could use them like the imperious curse?”

“Yes, but subtler.” Regina had not wanted to go into too much detail in some of the reports she’d sent, in case someone intercepted the messages and deduced who the writer was. Now she found herself eager to explain, to talk so openly about her mother’s crimes. “Unless you hold the heart, you cannot give direct commands. But as long as its your possession, you can give over arching suggestions and the victim will barely know they are under control.”

By now, Guinevre had pulled out a box and opened it, her face twisted in horrified fascination at the glowing anatomically correct heart sitting inside. “Additionally,” Regina continued. “If you take the heart and squeeze, it causes agonizing pain and if crushed, the victim dies.”

Tamara looked up as if to say something and Regina remined her of their first conversation, “Untraceable—and not the way the killing curse appears to muggles. This will leave the signs of a heart attack which looks natural. So far as I can tell, no witch or wizard can detect when its been used. She’s put years into perfecting it.”

The aurors lasped into silence as they examined the room, Regina showed them a few of the other chambers which held minor Dark artefacts, but they all ended up drifting back to the chamber of hearts.

“So,” Regina said, hopefully. “Do you think this will be enough?”

“Oh yeah,” Merida breathed. “This should be plenty.”

Archie turned to her and smiled for the first time since they’d arrived, “Don’t you worry Miss Regina, we’ll see to it your mother is locked away for good. I promise.”

 

 


	24. Reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Emma - Summer before Year 6  
> Regina - Summer before Year 7

Dear Emma,

            I know I said I would write you something more than that Mother had been arrested and that I was safe when I had the chance to. And I know that was over a week ago. So much has been happening, that there really hasn’t been any chance—besides I’ve been under close surveillance. As the main witness testifying against her, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement doesn’t want me to have much contact with anyone. They were afraid word might leak out before the trial or that someone would scare me into backing out.

            Our plan worked, with the listening spell in place and the aurors keyed into our apparition field, I used veritaserum to get Mother to confess. The auror team moved in and I held Mother off using the spells we practiced until they arrived and stunned her unconscious.

            Then I showed your aurors her vault and all its hearts. After that, so many people began getting called in—it was very overwhelming. Archie did his best to keep them at bay, or limit it to one or two people questioning me. I found out they had to keep Mother knocked out almost continuously the first day, she nearly overpowered her jailers so many times once she found out about they were in the vault. I think if we hadn’t had the hearts she would have merely denied everything and talked her way out this, even with the confession. But the vault, access willingly given by me, meant they had enough evidence to use truth telling spells and potions they otherwise wouldn’t have had authority to use.

            Veritaserum only worked because she didn’t know she’d been given it. Once you know you are being subjected to a truth potion, the effects are easier to evade and it wears off quicker. The Auror Office has other potions, stronger ones, and spells that help them tell when a person is lying. I was kept and questioned by one such truth diviner. For hours, he questioned me, repeating his questions, accusing me of saying things I hadn’t, making me re-tell the same story again and again. Eventually Merida refused to allow him to ask any more questions until I’d gotten some sleep.

            That first day seemed to last forever. They decided to have me stay at St Mungo’s for privacy and secrecy reasons. It was there I wrote my original note to you. Archie convinced the rest of the aurors to let me send it, vouching for you and reviewing the message himself. Again, I’m sorry if it was too brief.

            The days went back and forth between intense questioning and intense boredom as I waited for more questioning. I had to testify in front of the entire Wizenmagot and answer their questions before they presented Mother and discussed what the truth divers had gotten out of her. I never want to do so ever again.

            Tamara escorted me out after I was done. I saw them bring Mother in, but was told that I wouldn’t be staying for her questioning. I don’t know if I’m glad for missing it or not.

            Archie came to talk to me afterward. The truth diviners had to work hard to get her to speak, but she did once she saw she had to… In the end, I think she relished in telling them all of what she had done. I think everyone was shocked at how much she had done, how many laws she broke, people enslaved and murdered under their very noses. Even staunch purebloods were unnerved by the muggle lives she took.

            She was sentenced today, life imprisonment in Azkaban.

            I don’t feel like its real. I’ve asked the auror team to bring a picture of her for I never plan to see her again.

            I can’t believe it’s done.

            How’s your summer going?

Your friend,

            Regina Navar

-x-x-x-

Dear Regina,

            I’m so glad you finally sent me a real letter. You can’t imagine how frustrating it was to get your original short letter. The owl flew off as soon as I had the letter and so I couldn’t even write back to you.

            The spells really helped? Good, I’m glad all the practice was worth something in the end. And that your mother is in Azkaban where she belongs. I bet it doesn’t feel real, like when McGonagall first told me about my parents. They’re just words that don’t seem like they could be real.

            I hope they’re not still making you stay in hospital. Although, can you go home? Who owns your home now? Can your mum still own it? Or has it all been seized as evidence or something? I know you said you had some potions money to fall back on, but enough to live on your own until school starts up again?

            Also, you said something about how they didn’t want word leaking out before the trial? I hope they only cared before the trial because yeah, it definitely hit the papers. The Daily Prophet seems to be trying not to make it obvious that the Ministry should have known about what she was doing by just focusing on how terrible your mother was, but it’s a bit of a hard sell. They also haven’t reported the actual number of people she killed, but I think they weren’t allowed to. They do specify which wizards she killed, including your dad, and who she was controlling with their heart. I expect there to be a lot of articles and op eds about this all summer long. You are also talked about, that you’re the one who helped turn her in—not by name, but it says “her daughter” so they might as well have. I hope you still have auror protection, they’re still rounding up a couple of the people your mum said knew about what she was doing and people might be angry enough to take things out on you.

            In much more boring news, my summers been primarily filled with anticipation of all this, but otherwise hasn’t had much going on. The home I’m in seems pretty fine—instead of a group home, I’m staying with a family. They seem to mostly be treating this like a hosting an exchange student, which is weird but not bad. The most challenging part is that they know I go to a boarding school during the year which they are aware is unusual to say the least.

So they keep asking me about Hogwarts and I keep needing to make crap up about what it’s like. Mostly its just the school subjects, I don’t think saying ‘I’m enjoying Defense Against the Dark Arts, but Potions is hard’ would go over well—for all I kind of want to say it just to see their faces. Well, before the Ministry swooped in and they got Obliviated.

            I’m being too mean. They’re good people, if a little naïve. I think they think I’m in witness protection instead of being an actual orphan. Which they seem to find mysterious and interesting, rather than scary. They have a kid of their own, a girl, and she’s helping me brush up on my football skills—a muggle sport that I think is more popular than Quidditch.

I’m also learning how to drive a car—operate a muggle vehicle. There’s this program for foster kids that my foster family managed to get me enrolled in. I need to try to pass this summer since I can’t practice the rest of the year. It’s not as fun as riding a broom and I’m way more nervous about causing property damage, but it’s something I’ve been looking forward to doing since I was a kid—its kind of a rite of passage for muggles. So I’m studying for that and practicing, while waiting for my O.W.L. results. God I hope they come soon.

            I think I’ll go to library later, its nice to go somewhere so magical over the summer. Its hard being kept away from everything. Between this foster family, the driving lessons, and being so far from everything with your mum, it easier to believe its all a dream. The library helps, and the Bug, and Diagon of course. I just need to make sure I do something magical at least once a week. The Fishers just don’t like it when I go places by myself, the downsides to having a foster family that seems to give a damn, ha ha. I can’t wait until next summer when I can actually do magic whenever I want.

            Once I get my O.W.L.s, I should probably start looking into careers. I talked with Professor Sprout last year, but it was pretty hypothetical. She told us that we should send her a copy of our results over the summer and she’d be happy to advise us more. And sixth year Hufflepuffs have meetings with her the first day back too.

            It must be nice to know what you want to do, the way you do with potions. And with your mum out of the way, you can actually do it, as long as everything goes right I mean. I’m just not sure what I want to do. Are there wizard career guides? I guess I’ll find out when I go.

            I’m really glad you’re safe.

Your friend,

            Emma Swan

-x-x-x-

Dear Emma,

            Of course the spells helped, idiot. We didn’t train that much just for the exercise. I’m not sure what would have… The auror were impressed—you know they hadn’t really believed us when I’d told them Mother would try to kill me once she found out I’d turned on her. They thought some sort of mother-daughter bond would protect me, even after I’d explained to them what she was like. Or maybe they hadn’t thought she’d do anything so quickly, before they had a chance to arrive. I don’t know, but they could tell that it was been a serious duel.

            They’ve arranged to arrange a small flat for me, mostly to keep me safe from some of her associates that she exposed. And to keep me around, I think some are still worried I might flee the country or try to break her out or something—mostly people who’ve never spoken to me think that. Your aurors are doing a good job keeping officials and reporters and people who want revenge away from me.

They want my help going through a lot of the house. They’re going through everything and trying to figure out who the hearts belong to. At least it’s been publicized enough that they will be returning them instead of studying them, I’d been worried they’d just disappear into the Department of Mysteries.

Once I was set up in the flat, Cerdita was finally allowed to join me. The poor dear had been worried sick about everything and she’d not been able to leave as all the aurors combed the place from top to bottom. She’s very shook up from everything and the same way the house is in dispute, so is she—which is a very uncomfortable place for a house elf to be in. Sometimes she can’t listen to me or she feels the urge to dispose of some evidence of Mother’s since she knows that’s what Mother would have wanted and she tries to punish herself for not doing so. I’m really worried about her. I’ve talked to Archie and he prescribed a calming draught for her. I’ve asked the legal team focus on her contract before the rest of the property, but I think they feel I’m just acting spoiled.

            Its really uncomfortable dealing with the hearts, but at the same time, its feels really good to finally being doing something with them and actually work towards restoring them to their proper owners. We’re trying to see if we can use the hearts to find the proper owners. Besides the Department of Magical Law Enforcement with the Aurors Office, the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes with the Office of Misinformation is involved now, so now half the time inter-department disputes are going on. That means the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad and the Obliviator Headquarters are part of the team trying to help deal with the hearts—although even they say this is on a scale they’ve not seen since Grindelwald. It’s ironic how much exposure I’m getting to high level government officials by turning Mother in—exactly what she wanted for me.

            I think we’ll have a solution by the end of the summer and that the hearts can be returned, provided the departments cooperate with each other. It’s surreal to think her vault could be empty because the hearts were returned. I never could have imagined that.

            As far as my family home, I think the estate will

            Driving your muggle vehicle sounds interesting, perhaps you can show me how one works once you’ve been certified. And your foster family sounds good too. At least one of us should be having a normal summer. I’ve having enough excitement for five witches. Its rather tiring, I haven’t even needed one dreamless sleep potion, I’m so exhausted. But it’s a good tired most of the time, I know I’m accomplishing things.

            I can’t imagine having to leave Hogwarts and go to a world where there is no magic all summer. I’m glad there are places you can go to remind you that you belong to our world too.

            The future seems so strange these days. For so long I couldn’t see beyond Mother and now she’s gone and everything feels like the end of play but its also still happening? Like the script ran out but we’re all still here and expected to keep going. I do want to be a potioneer, but the best way to do that would be to get an apprenticeship. I don’t know if anyone will want to take on Cora Navar’s daughter. I don’t know that any will want to buy potions from a murderer’s daughter.

            Not that I truly know how everyone will react to me. I’m only allowed to contact you because of the aurors, no one else can owl me and I’m not allowed to go out in public. I don’t think I will be able until I get to Kings Cross.

            I am grateful we can still exchange letters. If I had to pick anyone, it would have been you.

Your friend,

            Regina Navar

-x-x-x-x-

Regina floo-ed directly to Kings Cross from the lobby of the building her flat had been in. All of her things had been packed up and anything extra had been stored. She adjusted her hat as she stepped out of the fireplace and off to the side quickly. While she was on the early side for the train, she knew others would be arriving similarly soon enough so she didn’t want to get in anyone’s way.

The Hogwarts Express was really only used for this journey and so it arrived at the platform overnight and was already waiting for students to board.

Regina saw no point in hanging about the station, especially in case anyone recognized her and wanted to talk about her mother. She hurried on to the train, giving the train attendant her ticket, since they had to be checked when the train wasn’t leaving for another couple hours.

She picked a carriage near the back and settled in quickly. She retrieved two of her books and the breakfast Cerdita had packed for her before levitating her trunk up onto the rack. She gave a small smile of satisfaction at being able to use magic on the train, something she hadn’t appreciated enough on her way home due to her nerves.

Regina settled in, feeling her nerves over seeing everyone again begin to settle as she lost herself in her book and her belly filled with Cerdita’s good food.

Nearly an hour later, Regina was still reading in the corner of the when there was a rattling noise and the door to the carriage opened. Regina looked up in alarm, and her wand was pointed at the opening in a heartbeat.  She already had the shield charm in her mind to use when she recognized Emma in the doorway.

They stared at each other for a moment before there was a thump from both Emma’s trunk and Regina’s book hitting the floor. And then, without either remembering moving, they were locked in a tight embrace.

“I know you said you were okay,” Emma said into Regina’s hair. “But I guess I didn’t really believe it.”

“Its okay,” Regina whispered back, memorizing the feel of her arms around Emma.

They stood there, holding on to each for another minute until Emma reluctantly pulled away.

“Come in,” Regina said, beckoning her in and going back to her seat. She grabbed Emma’s hand with one of hers and scooped up her book from the floor as well. Emma scrambled to grab her trunks handle as she was pulled along and the door shut loudly behind her although neither noticed.

Regina moved her things to the window ledge as she pulled Emma down beside her. Emma fell clumsily down next to her and ended up rather closer to Regina than either of the expected. Both were a little pink from the hug and the sudden closeness, but neither made a move to do anything about it.

“So,” Emma said. “Tell me everything you left out of your letters.”

-x-x-x-

Regina and Emma were still sitting pressed against each other in a carriage when the door slid open with a bang. Both girls jumped, but rather than springing apart, pushed closer together, hands tightening with wands at the ready.

Tina was over to Regina in a blur, pulling her up and giving her a fierce hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay. I know the papers said you were, but I was so worried. I didn’t even hear about everything until a few days ago. I swear if I hadn’t been on some remote island…”

“Thank you, dear” Regina said, flushing lightly at the enthusiastic greeting, small part of her still marveled at having friends who are so open with their affection the way Tina was. “I’m fine. Its good to see you too.”

“How was the island?” Regina asked.

Tina rolled her eyes and lightly smacked Regina’s arm, “If you think we’re gonna talk about my vacation before we talk about your duel with your mother, you’re crazy!”

“Duel, nothing in the papers said anything about a duel,” Regina sputted.

“Puh-lease. Like Cora Navar would go down without a fight,” Tina scoffed.

“Told you it would be obvious,” Emma said, rolling her eyes. “I told her she’d probably be accepted into the dueling club without a tryout because obviously that would have happened, but she didn’t believe me.”

Tina grinned at Emma, “Of course there’d been a fight. Did she have any crazy guards on her heart vault?”

Regina collapsed back down next to Emma. “Tina…” she said weakly.

Before tina could ask any more questions, movement caught Regina’s eye. She looked up to see Kathryn sliding onto the bench opposite her and Abby leaning against the door frame. Kathryn gave her a calm smile which was all Regina needed. She turned to eye Abby, she wasn’t sure what the girls’ family thought of her summer activities, but she was sure they had an opinion. “Hey.”

Abby’s face was unreadable beyond vague disinterest, “Hey. Dad said we should avoid you. Wouldn’t look good to associated with you and so on.”

“I figured,” Regina replied dryly, steadying hand on Emma’s arm to keep her from acting rashly.

Then Abby grinned, “Good thing he’s not here then. Otherwise, he’d learn exactly what I thought of that.”

Regina smiled back, “It is rather satisfying, their face when you tell them.”

Abby laughed and Kathryn looked up to smile at that too. “Oh god, I bet.”

Just then, the door opened a final time and Marion burst in panting, “Sorry, I’m late. Have I missed any of the details?”

“Shocker,” Abby said, as Tina ran up to give the other girl a hug. “Regina was just about to tell us what happened.”

Regina chuckled, “I was?”

“Yes,” Tina, Kathryn, and Abby said simultaneously.

“Well,” Regina glanced briefly at Emma, who merely smiled supportively. Regina actually found she did want to tell her friends. “Then I guess I better start talking.”


	25. Upsides

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Regina - Year 7  
> Emma - Year 6

There was obvious fallout around school. _At least the articles mostly came out a few weeks ago_ , Regina thought. She hated to think how much louder the whispers would be and how much longer the stares would be if the _Daily Prophet_ was still running taglines like “Wealthy and Influential Witch Revealed to be Center of Dark Conspiracy”.

Actually, mostly what Regina noticed the first day was how easy it made it to spot who was muggleborn or perhaps even halfblood. They were the ones who didn’t look or who were having extremely hushed conversations with their friends looking shocked. Unfortunately, those were also most likely the ones to look at her with fear once they did know what was going on.

Still, there was obvious confusion over how Regina should be viewed—her mother had been killing people, but Regina was the one who turned her over to Azkaban. Not to mention, much of the information reported in the _Prophet_ had been sensationalized to say the least. Most of the student body reacted by simply giving her a wide berth. Honestly, Regina was just relieved her friends were on her side, everyone else could shove it.

Her only other concern was Professor Gold. Clearly he felt it too as their seventh-year potions class was a small group. He acted as he always had, but she could feel his attention, as could the others.

“May I see you before you leave, Miss Navar?” he asked as they finished their first class of the year.

“Of course, professor.” All the other students fled more or less as soon as they were able to, although Tiana did at least give her a sympathetic smile on her way out.

Regina wished she could see his face but Gold was refilling some of the ingredients jars and arranging things in the cabinet as he spoke, “I had thought to owl you, Regina, but I ultimately decided against it.” He looked at her briefly, their eyes meeting but his as always gave away little. “I apologize for that, I merely didn’t want to risk any communication being intercepted.”

“Oh, that’s alright. I never expected you to write me,” Regina was confused. She wasn’t sure what she was expecting. Gold had been a friend of her mother’s for a long time even if they weren’t as close in recent years, surely he would be angry with her. Or angry with her mother.

Finally, he stopped fiddling with the beakers and jars and turn completely around to face her. She was surprised by the genuine sorrow in his expression. “I must apologize for something else as well. I had no knowledge of your mother’s activities, although I admit I harbored some suspicions which clearly still didn’t scratch the surface of what she had actually been doing.” Regina nodded, unsurprised. There were rumors about Gold, rumors that she had thought supported by what she knew of her mother, what would earn her respect. However, it had also always been evident that Gold had moved away from whatever they had in common—Mother always considered his job as a professor a waste. What he said next though, did catch her by surprise, “What I had the most suspicions about were you.”

Regina blinked, “Me?”

“Not of you being involved in Dark activities,” he was quick to reassure her. He frowned as he tried to find his words, “We have gotten to know each relatively well over the years, have we not? Would you not say that I know you, Regina?”

Regina nodded, they didn’t speak of personal matters often, but he was her mentor. He knew her.

“I know things we have never spoken about, such as your ambitious potions business. Very Slytherin of you, if I might say so.” Regina blushed, she’d always suspected he knew. “But there were other things I picked up on that I believe you did not know about. And that includes how your mother treated you.” Regina felt herself pale. “I have read what the paper reported and I have read certain court transcripts. I am a professor, we are given some training on how to notice these things, so I suspected. And I hoped you would come to me.”

Regina continued to stand stiff as a board, looking at him with a small amount of fear. He leaned back to give her space and tried to smile as nonjudgmentally as possible, “Now though, I see I was foolish to think these things. Of course you wouldn’t have. And I want to apologize for never coming to you and offering my support officially instead of assuming it was tacitly understood. Of course you would see me as too close to her to confide in me, but I wanted you to known I would have backed you over her for a few years now.”

Regina swallowed, her head spinning. Gold knew, not specifics, but he knew that Mother must have, have punished her. He was sorry he couldn’t have helped Regina, he wished he had. He didn’t blame her or think she deserved it. “I—I don’t know what to say.”

Gold held up a hand, “You don’t have to. Just know, that I can read between the lines and I know her—what she must have put you through if she treated others in this manner, I can imagine and its not pretty.” Regina gave the barest of nods, unable to stop herself from confirming what he said, too eager to have someone know, even as she was afraid of the secret, of what saying it to another person would imply.

He nodded back and then reached out a hand to clasp her should perhaps before thinking better of it. He pulled back to clasp the head of his cane instead, “You are very strong, Regina, to survive her. And so, I merely want to offer you my respect and to tell you, formally, that if you ever what to confide in me, you are welcome to. Any time.”

Regina didn’t know what to say besides, “Thank you.”

-x-x-x-

Emma practically ran up to the covered bridge to meet Regina. She was breathing hard when she reached her, “Sorry, sorry. We’re transforming fish into fountains and Ariel wouldn’t stop asking McGonagall questions—we got out late.”

“Really?” Regina asked, more amused than annoyed that Emma was late.

“Yes, she was very concerned about whether or not the transfiguration was harmful to the fish. Like, what about all the other animals we’ve turned into random objects over the years?

Regina laughed, throwing her head back, “Very true.”

Emma found herself staring as Regina laughed. It was still a bit overwhelming—how easily Regina laughed and smiled these days. The sunlight caught in her hair and eyes, making her appear to glow. It was mesmerizing. It made Emma want to do all sorts of stupid things—as long as it got Regina to laugh.

Emma pulled herself from her thoughts and blushed, automatically searching for a distraction. That’s when her gaze landed on the entire reason they were here. “So, is this it?” Emma asked eagerly, looing at the professional looking broom bag Regina was carrying and coming closer.

“No,” Regina drawled as she began loosening the ties. “This is just a normal broom, I thought we could help Filch keep the bridge clean.”

Emma laughed and elbowed her, “I should have known better than to ask.”

“And yet you still did,” Regina said, kneeling on the ground to unroll the fabric more easily.

“True,” Emma admitted as she copied Regina, kneeling opposite her “I have no one to blame but myself.”

“As long as we’re in agreement.” Before Emma could continue the banter, Regina undid the final tie and revealed her new broom in all its glory.

It was a lighter wood than most brooms Emma had seen before, but she could tell, despite the unusual style, it was a work of art. The entire construction was polished to a shine, not even a fingerprint marred the glossy wood, no bristle was out of place. The stirrups were still in their default folded position, loops instead of the usual foot rests. The brooms tail wasn’t slacked together the way she was used to, instead the twigs used for the tail were twisted together. It was a very distinctive look.

“She’s beautiful,” Regina said, her hand moving as if to stroke the wood, but instead hovering over it. “El Torcedor. The Twister. It only came out a few months ago. I was on a waiting list and it’s shipped all the way from Puerto Rico.”

“It looks awesome,” Emma agreed.

They both spent another couple of minutes taking it in before Emma got impatient. “Well, are you going to just look at it? Or are you actually going to ride it?”

Regina looked up from the broom for the first time since they’d revealed it and gave her a very sharp grin. “Oh, I’m gonna ride it, Swan.”

Emma suppressed a shiver as she grinned back and they straightened simultaneously. Regina held her hand up over the broom’s handle and said with complete confidently, “Up!”

It flew up into her hand, Emma practically expected it to start glowing the way her wand had when she first picked it up, that was how perfectly it seemed to be in Regina’s grip.

Regina stood there just holding it for a few more seconds before she began to mount it. Emma hastily took a few steps back as Regina situated herself and faced the entrance to the covered bridge.

“You ready?” Emma asked as Regina pulled on her googles.

“Yes,” Regina replied and Emma could feel her absolute conviction.

Once Regina was situated the way she liked she slowly began to rise in the air, until her head was a bit above Emma’s. Then she shot out of the covered part of the bridge into the sky.

Emma ran to the opening to see Regina was taking a wide lap around before doing some slow in and out between the bridge arches, clearly learning the broom’s response times and handling.

She swooped and soared over the trees of the Forbidden Forest, wind rushing in her ears. Then Regina flew down to the open path by the bridge and began to pull up in tighter and tighter circles, until she was corkscrewing upwards in extremely tight circles. Emma could see why this broom was called the Twister.

Finally, Regina came back down closer to Emma, cheeks flushed red from the wind and excitement. “It’s perfect.”

Emma smiled at the obvious glee in Regina’s voice as the older girl did another lazy loop, seemingly unable to help herself.

Regina flew in close loose circles, slowing down. “Would you like to ride too?”

Emma didn’t bother trying to keep her gaze fixed on Regina, she would only have gotten dizzy. “You’d let me take a turn on your fancy new broom?” she said, rather incredulously.

Regina scoffed, “Don’t be silly, I mean with me.”

“What?” Emma frowned, why couldn’t Regina ever say a thing outright?

Reina slowed enough to hover in front of Emma, “Climb on.” She gestured behind them with her head, “It can handle a second witch.”

Regina moved next to her, lowering herself so that the broom was of a good height for Emma to climb on.

“Alright,” Emma said, as she awkwardly tried to figure out how to get on and where to put her hands. She’d never ridden on the same broom as someone else. In the end. Emma settled for putting her hands on Regina’s shoulders before swinging her leg over and sitting down behind Regina.

Emma scooted closer to Regina, not wanting to crowd her. She carefully moved her hands from Regina’s shoulders to her waist, which she griped lightly.

“Ready?” Regina asked as Emma got herself situated

Emma nodded, trying not to press to much against Regina, not wanting to push the girl, even as she desperately wanted to be closer. “Yeah, I’m good.”

“Are you sure?” Regina asked doubtfully, Emma didn’t seem to be holding on very tightly. Regina didn’t want her to fall off—not that she wanted Emma closer, except of course that she did.

“Yeah, yeah,” Emma said, trying to move on from this line of questioning, “Are we gonna go or what?”

“Don’t test me, Swan,” Regina warned as she slowly began to rise in the air before she leaned forward and began to open the broom up gradually, still savoring the smooth motion. It was also enough for Emma to slide a bit closer on the broom. One of Emma’s arms wrapped around her waist at a gentle turn, and soon the other girl was molded against Regina’s back. Emma’s breath puffed against her neck and Emma said, “Is this okay?”

“Yes,” Regina said, and if her voice seemed more breathless than usual, well they were flying. “Ready to see what she’s really capable of?”

“Of course.”

Regina grinned at the predictable response. She leaned forward and they dove straight down towards the lake. Emma laughed in her ear as they hurtled towards the water only to pull up at the last minute and fly along the lake’s surface, building up speed.

Regina felt herself grinning as the wind whipped her hair around her, at the sun on her face, at the feeling of Emma pressed tight against her back. She let out a whoop as they followed the curve of the lake and began to pull up into a series of spirals. She pressed every detail of this flight into her mind and knew, if she ever needed to create her Patronus again, this would be the memory she would draw on.

After over an hour flying around, they eventually got off to lounge against a large tree within view of the lake still. Regina pulled out some food she’d asked the castle house elves for in advance, knowing Emma’s stomach. They leaned back as the sun sunk lower in the sky, talking about their classes and friends, everything they left out of their letters or hadn’t gotten to on the train before the others had shown up.

“So what are you going to do now?” Emma asked as they lounged against the tree. “Because you can do, well, anything I guess.”

Regina looked over at her and sat up straighter pushing off from the tree. She stared directly into Emma’s eyes, considering. Maybe it was the adrenaline rush from her new broom, or maybe it was the wonderful feeling of freedom that came with that statement or maybe they’d be building up to this for so long that she just could stand merely looking at Emma any longer. Not when she could finally go after all the things she wanted.

Regina reached over, cupped Emma’s face before the other girl could react and kissed her. She didn’t have any time to be worried about Emma’s reaction because by the time she herself had finished processing that she was really feeling Emma’s lips against hers after wanting to for so long, she was also aware that Emma had immediately, with no hesitation at all, kissed her back.

Their lips caught against each other and it was a bit more heavy-handed than Regina had meant, so she gentled her grip on Emma’s cheek and brought her other hand to Emma’s curls as she carefully eased up, only to open her mouth in the next second, unable to help herself. Emma had immediately fisted a hand in Regina’s robs, keeping her pressed against her, as if worried Regina might disappear.

They finally separated and stared at each other as both tried to process what had just happened. Regina recovered first and abruptly levered herself so that she was suddenly straddling Emma’s lap. Emma let out a small noise of surprise as she found Regina even closer and pressed against her. Her hand automatically went to Regina’s waist to steady her while her other hand continued to clutch Regina’s robes.

“You know Emma,” Regina voice seemed to have dropped an octave and Emma swallowed hard as she found herself even more distracted by Regina’s lips than usual. “I’ve been thinking about that a lot. I’ve been thinking about writing a potions textbook. Or working for a potioneer or as an apothecary. Or opening up a shop at Hogsmeade. Or even breeding horses like my father did.”

Regina gave a wistful smile, her eyes unfocused, before they narrowed once more to the girl under her, “There are so many choices, its overwhelming, but I’m enjoying it.” She smiled at that because she really was and Emma automatically smiled back. “Only one part of my future doesn’t involve any choice on my part. And that’s you.” Regina tucked one of Emma’s curls behind her ear as she smiled softly down at her. “I don’t care what I end up working at, as long as you’re there with me. What do you say?”

Emma blinked up at Regina once before capturing Regina’s mouth in another kiss. Regina instinctively sighed into the kiss, as if that was exactly the response she’d been hoping for, which it was. Unlike the previous kiss, it heated up much more quickly, as if Emma had been holding herself back the whole time Regina had been speaking and so she couldn’t control herself once it was clear it was her turn to respond.

Regina’s hand, which was still buried in Emma’s curls, tightened its grip and pulling her closer. Emma’s arm around Regina’s waist tightened as well her other hand moved up her back.

Eventually they pulled apart, foreheads leaning lightly against each other, breath still mingling. “Of course,” Emma’s lips brushed Regina’s as she replied to Regina’s question, just in case it wasn’t obvious from before.

“Good,” Regina said, before pushing Emma back against the tree and chasing after for another kiss.

 

 


End file.
